By Garrick Moritz, Editor

            The City of Garretson had a big meeting with a lot of debate last week, on Monday, Sept. 5.

            Starting off they discussed the Pool with several of the pool Board Members presents including Karla Godbey, Leah Konechne, Doug Grimsrud and Jason Bohl. The Pool Board gave the city council a review of the year and notified them of potential problems for the future. Firstly there was some vandalism and midnight swimming this summer and also the roof was damaged in last year's storm and not completely repaired yet.

            "There are cracks in the cement, and in those cracks, water gets in and ice forms during the winter and that of course, causes damage." said Bohl. "We schedule painting every three years of course, but that only does so much. This year, getting the pool prepped before the season started we took out and patched some pretty big chunks of cement that had flaked off due to weathering, some the size of your fist. Moisture is our biggest adversary and that might seem funny when you talk about a pool, but it's the truth."

            The road leading to the pool also needs repairs, and the pool board is planning to install security cameras at the pool this coming year.

            On a positive note, the pool board said that they had regular families coming on a weekly basis from Hills, Beaver Creek and Brandon. These families said that they enjoyed the deeper depths and large swimming area offered by the Garretson pool, so the open concept floor plan has certainly worked to the pool's advantage.

            Mayor Tim Mullin and the City Council asked the present pool board members what they thought of the grant for playground equipment that had been received.

            Pool board member Jason Bohl said it hadn't been discussed overmuch. Generally speaking he said that they would rather have that money available for some of the repair and perhaps some material upgrades inside the pool first, but he understood that the grant in question was for exterior playground equipment. Everyone agreed that the current playground equipment is old, dilapidated and a potential hazard.  Former City Councilwoman Jodi Gloe advised that it was best not to return a grant because that might affect the possibility of getting new grants for the pool more difficult. Mayor Mullin offered to attend the next pool board meeting and develop a plan of action for removing the old equipment and ordering a new, modern set of playground gear that is up to current code.

            "It's the right time because everything is on sale right now," said Mullin, "and if we can get a core of volunteers with some equipment to install it we can get something that's much better for that space than the unsafe eyesore that's currently there. "

            The final deadline for the grant is this coming December so the pool board and city council need to decide what to do quickly.

            Next, Captain Mike Walsh from the Minnehaha County Sherriff’s Department was there to give a briefing on the rash of vandalisms and petty thefts that have been happening in Garretson.

            Captain Walsh elaborated that there have been approximately 7 instances of vandalism in Garretson this past summer. In the building housing Palisades Chiropractic and People's Insurance we had graffiti applied with cooking spray on the north face of the building. We had a van whose side mirror was broken off. At the Garretson Food Center we had windows damaged and glass doors damaged or shattered in two separate instances one week ago and the second over the Labor Day holiday and at the Jesse James Country Store, the very same occurred over the Labor Day holiday. The pool was also vandalized, with chairs thrown into the pool on two occasions. He regretted to say that as of this moment, there were no suspects for any of these crimes.

            Neither of the storefront crimes developed into burglaries, he was happy to report.

            "Though I never make assumptions on investigations, my experience in law enforcement tells me that these crimes were committed by juveniles," he said. "The unfortunate truth about property crimes like this is the solve rate is very low. Both the Garretson Food Center and Jesse James have security cameras, but in neither case were any useful images found. GFC's cameras are all inside to dissuade shoplifters and the perpetrators at Jesse James were savvy enough to avoid the camera there. Listening to you pool board's report just now, I noted that they plan to install more cameras at the pool, well I heartily support that idea and encourage that as a plan of action to implement. Nowadays, cameras are very inexpensive, and act as both a deterrent and a solid way to identify a suspect."

            Captain Walsh was informed by Garretson Historical Society member Kelly Schleuter that the Historical Society has cameras in the Museum, some of which face outward to the street and the Garretson Food Center can sometimes be seen in their camera feed. Captain Walsh thanked her and took down information from the historical society to pass on to his investigating officer to examine the Museum’s recordings.

            "Anything can potentially help, and if we can get a positive ID on one suspect we can usually round up any others involved as well," he said. "There is no doubt that the crime rate is rising in Sioux Falls, which means it's up in general county wide. The crime rate countywide however, hasn't shifted all that much. Many of the rural areas haven't been targeted as much as Sioux Falls neighborhoods, however there is no doubt that both amateurs and professional criminals alike will be looking toward the rural areas of Minnehaha County looking for easy targets. Locks and cameras are a good and simple way to protect yourself and your business."

            Next the council talked about the success of the Big Dam Party on the second, second Saturday events that followed courtesy of the Grow Garretson citizens group. The council formally thanked Grow Garretson, many members of which were there present.

            There was no report from the Garretson Ambulance Service coordinator Matt Penning, but Fire Chief Mark Rozeboom gave his report. The Fire Department had 20 calls in July with 112 work/training hours and 9 calls in August with 102 work/training ours with a total of 86 calls for this year to date.

            Moving into old business there was a brief discussion on the formation of the Park Board. City finance officer Anna Uhl said that she will be placing an ad in the Gazette in the near future to fill the positions on the park board before 2017.

            Next the council came to one of the most debated issues of the night, the city's bid for garbage hauling. Multiple proposals and motions were made, but they all failed to get the votes needed to take the floor. Council members Greg Beaner, Gloria Sanders, and William "Bill" Hoskins were in favor of giving the contract to VanDykes sanitation because of their lower bid. Richelle Hofer and Dave Bonte opposed this because they wanted to award the contract to Garbage-N-More as they are service that is operated out in the City limits of Garretson.

            A large debate unfolded with both council members and citizens all having a say. Former city councilwoman Jodi Gloe made an eloquent argument, saying that she herself uses VanDykes and is happy with their service, however she felt that the city council should support business based within the city limits, even if the bid was higher, because to vote any other way would make hollow the congratulations the city just issued to the members of Grow Garretson there present, because by action the city would be making the implication that it's ok to not shop locally, because getting the best price is the only thing that matters. Several members of the public as well as the mayor also voiced his support for Garbage-N-More, saying they served his personal residence and he didn’t have any complaints.

            Councilwoman Sanders made a counter argument that VanDykes are very local, just because they're across the state line doesn't mean they don't support local businesses too. She noted that they do a lot of service contracts for large local industry, such as Nordstrom’s.  Councilwomen Hofer counter argued that the city makes more with Garbage-N-more however, as they are local taxpayers. This discussion then moved issues that council members had with Garbage-N-More. Council members brought up that several times trash has not been removed on schedule from the city's parks and that some dumpsters placed, and also that several members of the public had complained about the Garbage-N-More trucks driving on lawns to retrieve garbage.

            Councilwoman Hofer said that she understood these concerns, but rebuked her fellow councilmen saying that the time to air those concerns was at the last meeting when owner/operator Jeff Schreurs himself was there to answer their concerns.

            "Lets be fair to him and give him a recourse to address the concerns we have, rather than giving the contract to another party without warning," she said. "If he doesn't meet the concerns we have then I'd be all for canceling our deal, because that's just business," Hofer said.

            Hoskins made a compromise motion, for a one-year contract with Garbage-N-More for monthly payments based on performance.  Hofer seconded it, and all present members save Sanders voted for the motion.

After that the council voted to sell the old and buy the new street sweeper.

They then discussed the current nuisance properties on the city's watch list. They were pleased with news about  Mark Williamson’s property and citing great progress on work he'd done cleaning up his property, so he was officially off the list. The council discussed Ron Eitriem's Property as well as Wood-n-Tees. Uhl will send letters and request their presence at the next council meeting. They also agreed to follow procedure at 509 Essex, and the garage there will be removed as soon as a contractor is available.

            The council tabled discussion of sidewalks and proposed bike trail, as Chad Hanish was unable to attend this meeting.

            The council then returned to ordinances and resolutions. This was the next item up for discussion as this has been a matter of debate for several council sessions. This revised ordinance was given its second reading for final approval. This has more strict license requirements for the city, better definition of the procedure for licensed pets and what a vicious animal is and what the city's legal recourse is for enforcing protocols against a vicious animal, all based in South Dakota codified law. This met with overall approval from the council. However, two last minute changes were made regarding this revised ordinance. First was an amendment to allow residents to have up to 5 family pets in a home instead of just 3. Next, an amendment was made to remove the allowance for chickens within the city limits. The mayor and a majority of council members expressed their opinion that they did not want chickens allowed in Garretson, despite several previous council meetings were residents argued in favor of allowing them, as Sioux Falls does. However, none of those residents were present at this meeting to voice their positions so the council voted as they majority desired and the new ordinance was passed as amended.

            Next the council talked about enacting a 5-year improvement plan, which was another debate item. Hofer made a compelling argument that Garretson needs to join the majority of South Dakota Municipalities and create a 5-year improvement plan. The council by in large thought that had merit, especially considering the large infrastructure issue the city is currently facing. The key debate point was how to fund it, and fund it adequately and still pass a balanced budget.

            This debate consumed a good bit of time, with several proposals brought forward. In the end, the compromise reached was to make the plan a line item in the budget by borrowing out of the city's subsidy funds. The plan is that if the sale of city land to Dollar General goes forward then that money would be then directly allocated for the 5-year plan and subsidy money redistributed. If the sale did not go through, then reserves could be tapped to make up the shortfall.

            The council then appointed Shelly Hofer as the Minnehaha County Economic Development Association Representative for the City of Garretson.

            Lastly, the council had a personnel executive session, after which the voted to give city maintenance officer Craig Nussbaum a 3 percent annual wage increase.

by Carrie Moritz, Gazette

The City Council of Garretson met in session on Tuesday, August 2 at 6:00 p.m. The meeting was well attended by the public, which is always highly encouraged. All council members except Tom Lines were present, and Mayor Tim Mullin called the meeting into order with the Pledge of Allegiance. He then opened the floor for anyone who was in attendance that may have needed to address an item right away. First to the floor were the Garbage bids. Last month, the single bid that had been proposed was denied due to lack of detail and bids were again requested. Two itemized bids were submitted, one from Garbage-N-More and one from Van Dyke Sanitation out of Edgerton. The out of town service placed a bid that was $615 lower, which councilmember Bill Hoskins moved to accept. However, before it was voted upon, Garbage-N-More owner Jeff Schreurs asked if it was possible for future requests for bids be multi-year contracts. He also wanted to let the council know that his bid was not out of line, as last year, vandalized and stolen dumpsters cost his company $3,000 that insurance did not cover. The increased cost to his company due to the vandalism was the reasoning behind the increased bid, as he was hoping to recoup some of those costs. The idea of going with a more local company was appealing to the Council, and they brought to a vote whether to use Van Dyke Sanitation, and it failed due to a lack of majority (3 to 2). When brought to a vote for Garbage-N-More, it failed again 3 to 2 (Sanders stated she mis-voted for the first vote). The Council decided to continue as-is and look at it again next month. Schreurs expressed his appreciation for the vote, saying, "I pay over $3000 in taxes to Garretson per year and appreciate the stance for local business."

Next, a city nuisance violation was addressed. A neighbor had expressed his concern with a lot of junk and items at a house on Granite, as well as a van parked on the corner, and a letter of violation had been sent. The property owner had cleaned things up and moved items into his shed, but the opinion of the neighbor was that a few things had been moved around and the owner had added to it. A short discussion ensued about ordinance enforcement and who was responsible for it. It often falls to the Mayor, who was also requesting the Council also back enforcement. Council member Greg Beaner expressed concern that having the Council enforce codes may lead to hard feelings, which is never good in a small town. A suggestion of a Code Enforcement Officer was brought up and quickly discussed, but no action was taken or ideas brought to the table beyond questioning whether it was possible to cost share with another community or to hire some type of outside party for enforcement. As for the nuisance violation, the council agreed to send another letter for further clean up to occur by a specific date, and for the van to be moved, as it was a traffic hazard on a busy corner. The corner of Railroad/Essex and Granite was also discussed, as it is currently only controlled by one stop sign, and it seemed to the community member and a few council members that placing more stop signs might be a good idea. It was decided to place that item on the agenda for next month.

Jeff Frerk then presented for the Garretson Fire Department. There were 8 calls in May and 9 calls in June, which brings the year-to-date calls up to 66. The year-to-date man hours is 1321 hours.

Variance 2016-9 was then addressed, the property on Railroad Avenue. The property owner wished to build a large garage (36'x40') on the land, and the neighbors were all in agreement that it would be a good structure to place there. The board voted to allow the structure to proceed.

Matt Penning addressed the council with Ambulance service news. There have been meetings to redraw maps and territory lines, and not much is changing for Garretson. Cindy Heiburger, Minnehaha County Commissioner, also had spoken with the county's ambulance services and said the commissioners were trying to find a long term, better way to fund the county ambulance services, not cut funding, as had been rumored and reported. They "felt insulted" that it was implied they were considering cutting funding. It was previously reported to this newspaper by other sources, including Commissioner Jeff Barth, that funding cuts were under consideration. This was also what Penning had previously reported to the Garretson City Council. This resulted in a public outcry not to cut ambulance funding.

For the Sheriff's report, no officer was on hand. However, Mayor Mullin wanted to let everyone know that there are reports of many officers retiring over the next few years, which means there will be several younger officers coming onto the force.

Natural gas reported that prices were down slightly again, and the council voted to lower prices to match.

Water, sewer, and streets were next on the agenda. The 3rd Street water lines and Railroad road construction project, which was originally to occur this summer, is now moved to next spring in order to take advantage of better funding opportunities. The project had been expanded substantially since it was first decided to replace the water mains on 3rd. Initially, it was two small projects, and it has now grown into one large one that includes the sewer system and repaving of streets. If the grant money is applied for in January, larger amounts are generally awarded than if it is applied for in June. Jeff Frerk then asked the council to consider making sure the water hydrants were also updated during that project. They get deducted for having old hydrants, and newer ones would help them, as well. The council stated that hydrant replacement was on the project list already. "Our constituents are very concerned about this and so are we," councilmember Hoskins said. City Maintenance Officer Craig Nussbaum replied, "It's a large project and we are adding to the value of the community, so we need to make sure we have the funding properly in place." Councilmember Richelle Hofer used this project as a good reason to have a quality 5-year plan outlined for Garretson, and should be budgeted for when the 2017 budget is presented in September. "If we have certain projects outlined, we can plan for them," she said, "and have the funding in place in advance." This project has changed since it first came about, but a five-year plan would help move Garretson into an offense position rather than a defense position when it comes to large projects. "Right now, we're just reacting. I'd like to see us become proactive."

            Councilmember Hoskins replied, "Five years isn't enough to address all the issues the city has, we only have so much income and need to spend it wisely."

            "That's part of what a five year plan does," Hofer responded. "We need to address current infrastructure and plan for future projects. We just need an engineer to get the ball rolling on a plan. That will cost some money." A quick discussion ensued as to whether our current city-contracted engineer or another engineer would be used, but no decisions were made.

Next on the agenda were the parks. At the Jaycee Complex, bleachers are being put together, and a line for electrical to the picnic shelter is needed. Discussion was also had regarding getting more electrical lines and outlets into that area for future events that may be held up there. At the pool, a bid had been requested for cameras to be set up at the pool due to vandalizing. Items were being thrown into the pool, which so far had not created any major damage, but could change. Also, the grant money check had been deposited, but it was learned that it is required to be used for playground equipment within six months or given back. The council agreed that if the current equipment is a liability, it needs to be pulled out, but they also agreed that having play equipment up there is an asset and that something should be figured out and agreed upon with the Pool board. The City was also taking issue with the hours and lack of communication from the pool regarding pool closures. "We are paying the employees, if they are saying that they're supposed to be open, they should be open, regardless of whether it's for two kids," Mayor Mullin said. Local community members chimed in that they'd had issues recently with the pool being closed when it should have been open.  Also, community members pointed out that there are several communities with playground equipment nearby the pool, and this isn't an issue in those places. Rock Rapids, Iowa, for instance, has a very large playground structure right outside the entrance to their pool. They utilize privacy fencing to discourage distraction for the lifeguards. The council encouraged the community to contact the pool board members to address these issues, as well as the play equipment.

For finance, the audit is finished, and they are just waiting for the results. Anna Uhl, City Finance Officer, is also working on the 2017 budget, which will be presented for first reading next month. The city is also waiting for its final payment from FEMA for the Splitrock Park Dam project. The council then discussed the dam and how to prevent accidents in the future.

Grow Garretson then formally requested permission to close Main street between 3rd and 4th Avenues on August 13 for the Second Saturday event. It was also requested to have a special meeting to approve the liquor license request, as there will be a wine and beer walk as part of the event.

The formation of the Parks Board was next on the agenda. The resolution was read and adopted. The Council will now be accepting applications for members to be on the Parks board. To apply, send a short letter of interest to the mayor that will be shared at the next meeting.

Next, Andy Hermanson with the JC Foundation requested a liquor license for their upcoming rededication event. For their 25th Anniversary on August 27th & 28th, they will be hosting a kickball tournament and selling hamburgers, hot dogs, and beer. The liquor license was approved.

For city maintenance, a street project on Dows to place an overlay had received 3 bids, and upon the recommendation of Nussbaum, the lowest bid was accepted. Work was to begin on Wednesday, August 3 and be finished by Friday, August 5. A discussion regarding the purchase of a new sweeper and disposal of the old sweeper was next. The current sweeper was in need of repairs, and would cost a minimum of $15,000 to fix with the potential for more fixes next year and likely had less than 5 years of life left in it. The sweeper under consideration would be much newer, but cost over $50,000, even with the trade in of the old sweeper. It was decided to surplus the old sweeper and place a bid for a new sweeper.

Next, the Animal Ordinance was brought to the table for a first reading. As it was increasing substantially in size, the council opted to take it home and will have more discussion on it next month. Uhl wanted the council to pay special attention to the vicious dog and the chicken ordinances. Community member Karen Berg said that regarding chickens, "If Seattle and Sioux Falls and Minneapolis can have ordinances allowing chickens, why can't a small, rural community like Garretson?" Mayor Mullin responded that it was due to enforcement. If Garretson allowed chickens on a plot of land that bordered an acre or more (which had been discussed during the July meeting and detailed in the Gazette in July 21st issue), they would have to enforce the number of chickens and who owned them. "People like to push the rules. If we limit it to 4 chickens, someone will always see if they can get away with 5," said Mullin. Since this is a first reading, revisions will occur during next month's meeting. Citizens should bring their concerns to the Mayor and City Councilors.

Next was Ordinance 628, a first reading of the budget, which is allowing requests until September 1. So far, the Sheriff's department request was only up $1000. Councilmember Hofer also asked that $25,000 for a five-year plan that addresses facilities, infrastructure, and more be requested.

The third to last item on the agenda was the re-platting of land owned by the Pierret family. Tract 1 is east of Leslie Circle and Jacob Circle and out to the Valley Springs road, and Tract 2 is north of the industrial park. Both requests were approved and the council authorized the Mayor to sign the documents necessary.

A quick discussion ensued regarding ordinances such as sign height, lighting, parking lots, and landscaping. These questions had come about by Heather Hitchcock of Dollar General, and it was addressed that Garretson did not have ordinances for any of these items. It is something that should have been done a long time ago, the council agreed, but nothing was decided.

Finally, discussion regarding garages at the trailer park was held. Garages are allowed, but they require a building permit and cannot be portable. It must also follow current city ordinances.

The meeting adjourned for the evening. The next meeting is slated for Labor Day, but will likely be moved due to the holiday.