Without little fanfare the city council and mayor accepted another white elephant gift (see below). I have covered the progress of this park before, and before that. Sure the park will be wonderful, but not only will it be very expensive to maintain (I’m guessing over a million a year), it takes 51 acres of private property off the tax rolls. And as far as I can tell, will be surrounded by private property benefitting the developers of that area as a selling point. So not only will we be losing property tax money and spending more money in the Parks budget, Sioux Falls taxpayers will be footing the bill for developers to make their developments more desirable. Business as usual I guess.
Remember the Trojan horse?
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29. |
ÂA motion was made by Council Member Beninga and seconded by Council Member Costello to adopt said Resolution 55-09. ÂÂVote to adopt: Roll Call: Yeses, Jamison, Knudson, Litz, Staggers, Anderson Jr., Beninga, Brown, Costello, 8. Noes, 0.  Motion Passed.Â
RESOLUTION NO. 55-09
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A RESOLUTION AUTHORIZING THE MAYOR TO ENTER INTO A CONDITIONAL GIFTING AGREEMENT FOR THE DONATION OF LAND FOR A NEW PARK SITE ON OR NEAR WEST 12TH STREET AND THE TEA ELLIS ROAD, WHICH INCLUDES THE NAMING OF THE PARK AS A CONDITION OF THE GIFT.
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BE IT RESOLVED BY THE CITY OF SIOUX FALLS, SD:
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That the document attached to and part of this resolution entitled “A Conditional Gifting Agreement for the Donation of Land for a New Park Site on or Near West 12th Street and the Tea Ellis Road,†which includes the naming of the park as a condition of the gift, is hereby approved.
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That the Mayor is authorized to sign such agreement after it is ratified and executed by Crusher Investment Company.
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Date adopted:
06/15/09
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                                                                                                       Dave MunsonÂ
                                                                                                              Mayor
ATTEST:
Debra A. Owen
City Clerk
L3wis,
As usual you’re screaming wolf when a friggin’ mouse runs across the floor. That area has been a gravel pit. Not long ago the landfill was right down the road. Across the street is an old, shuttered cattle operation.
Do you know one reason why quarriers can sell gravel or crushed rock so cheap to where they ship it all over the country from here? Because they pay next nothing in taxes on the property.
Take a look at the homes pushing up to this area to the South. You’ve got some real nice ones and also some lower end. Most of which was built in the last 5 years. It might take 10 more to get rolling around this park, but the end result will be very similar. There’s a huge inventory of lots these days, but a very limited number have any natural greenway near them and none that I can think of have proximity to a lake unless you drive at least a half hour out of town.
This was a no-brainer for the City and we should all be grateful to the Soukup family for this gift. The long term effect will be a huge boost for the City’s coffers.
What’s the deal, did a developer run over your dog when you were a kid or what?
I don’t have so much a problem with the gift as I have this being an excuse for the Parks and Rec to pad their budget a little more. I will be curious what it will cost to maintain this park. Not cheap.
It would be like giving me a Ferrari. Sure, I would love to have one, but if I can’t afford the insurance on it, how can I drive it?
As much as it pains me to say it, I have to agree with Sy on this one – this was a no-brainer on the city’s part. It is far enough away from existing parks that it fits in their model, and this prevents having to buy land elsewhere as the city expands to that side of town. Due to the ponds and trees and creek this could end up being a jewel for the city once it has been properly developed, and it could be quite the little nature area which is something our city needs more of.
Yes I’m sure the Soukup family is happy that they won’t have to pay taxes on the land any longer and since they have essentially taken all of the rock and gravel they can from the place, finding a buyer would have been difficult, but this is a still a net positive for the city.
It will likely be 5-10 years or more before the pond to the West of Tea-Ellis road is developed since they are still actively mining in that area, but one day that could be a very nice housing development.
The alternative would have been for the city to say no, and Soukup probably would have held on to the land for a few more years until he developed the whole area for upscale housing, so this is one of those times where we should just be thankful for the gift and understand sometimes such things actually happen without any strings.
“until he developed the whole area for upscale housing.”
What’s wrong with that? I don’t care. We have plenty of places to fish and nature trails in the area. I would feel differently about it if 1) It was in the middle of town, like where MCC is now 2) and if it was a 50/50 partnership with the state as a state park also. I just think it is going to cost a fortune to stock those lakes.
Costner:
“As much as it pains me to say it, I have to agree with Sy on this one.”
That’s the difference between you and I, Costner. It doesn’t pain me one bit to agree with you, L3wis, Angry Goat or anyone else. I don’t hold any personal agnst towards anyone I don’t know personally. Life’s too short for that.
Sure, I’ll match insults and tone to how I’m addressed, because obviously we all learned in kindergarten to treat folks how we want to be treated.
Or at least some of us have.
I agree Sy. Everytime I see my favorite developer, Craigslist, I always wink and smile at him.
Does he wink and smile back? I hear he’s kinda shy.
Usually I get an arrogant shit eating grimace, but no wink.
Well, we better send grimace back to kindergarten then.
Sy your sense of humor is all jacked up…you can’t even take a joke.
Although I’m not sure about this comment: ”
I don’t hold any personal agnst towards anyone I don’t know personally.”
Does that change if I call one of your kids a whore? Just wondering what triggers the Internet tough guy routine.
Costner:
That statement is in no way obtuse, if you’re having difficulty with it, than I’ll thank you for helping to prove my point.
“Does that change if I call one of your kids a whore? Just wondering what triggers the Internet tough guy routine.”
Now it’s you who’s being obtuse, but I’ll answer your question anyway.
No, it doesn’t change me or my kids one iota. But it would definately have an impact on you.
Ok then all of your kids are whores.
Funny….I don’t seem impacted one bit.
Do I have to wait for it or should I feel something already?
Just words man….just words. The only time you should get offended would be if they were true. You don’t have to like it, but getting bent out of shape from some words from someone you don’t know towards people they don’t know is a pretty sad way to live a life if you ask me.
If you can’t take someone saying nasty things about you, your significant other, your kids, your mother, your grandmother, or your dog… then this whole Internet thing probably isn’t for you.
Now obviously I don’t know your kids so I can’t really judge them nor call them whores now can I, so no offense intended, but your whole “impact on you” tough guy routine is just silly – thus I’m making a point.
Still confused I see, Costner.
The impact on you for calling my kid(s) whores is, (like I said in the other thread) is it makes you scum IMHO. It does so for the exact same reasons you cite above. You diminish yourself just like Letterman did.
It goes a step further if you were serious about the insult and truly didn’t feel any different afterwards. People say/type stupid things all the time, they also have the opportunity to reflect on the intended
impact and if in doing so feel they have crossed a line, they can man up and apologize, again like Letterman did.
So many seem to think that shows weakness, but in reality it shows strength. The weak ones are those who cling to the gutter since they lack the intellect to actually take on an idea and intelligently articulate an opposing viewpoint.
As for the internet tough guy claim, I am the same guy in here as I am out there. If we were sitting on a couple bar stools talking politics and out of frustration you lob an insult at someone close to me, I would think it wouldn’t be a shock to you if I responded by clocking you in the jaw. Note I said “if”. But since we can all type under the cloak of anonymity (or some of you can at least) you never have to actually worry about “if”.
“So many seem to think that shows weakness, but in reality it shows strength.”
I tend to agree in most cases, but in some cases apologies come just because they know it is expected. I don’t give much creedence to Mel Gibson saying he is sorry about his Jew rant when I know he most likely still thinks that way, and I don’t think Micheal Richards is a better man for his pathetic apology on Letterman because it was driven more by fear of ending his career than by recognizing he did the wrong thing.
I also don’t think it showed any strength for Vick to come out and apologize for his dog kennels and his actions towards the animals when I know the only reason he is apologizing is because he hoped the judge would be easy on him and maybe he could get back in the game to make a few more million.
Then you have someone like Larry Craig who apologized to his family, but I don’t think that showed strength because he was just trying to save face, and honestly I’m not even sure Letterman’s apology showed strength because part of me think it was forced by the network due to the hub-bub his original “joke” caused.
So I understand what you’re saying and agree in principle, but I don’t think it applies in all cases.
“If we were sitting on a couple bar stools talking politics and out of frustration you lob an insult at someone close to me, I would think it wouldn’t be a shock to you if I responded by clocking you in the jaw.”
You’re right – I wouldn’t be shocked, because physical violence, or threats of physical violence seem to be a common reaction from those who are unable to rely upon their intellect to get them through life.
See what I did there Sy?
i think you silly fools should get together for an ACTUAL pissing match, it’s getting boring on the blogs.
Hos- Who do you think has the bigger wang? A guy who sells rocks for a living or a guy who wishes he could dance with Wolves?
BTW, I thought this thread was about white elephant parks? I don’t think I control this blog anymore, even if I secretly am all the contributors.
Maybe I should invite Sy and Costner to be contributors.
are you buying? time for a southdacolafest!
Costner:
“See what I did there Sy?”
Touche’…or I guess as Angry Guy would prefer Douche’. All excellent points.
Sounds like hos likes to watch.
and L3wis, control’s overrated, look where it’s gottne people these days.
Laid?