South DaCola

Editorial Cartoonist from South Dakota

2016

Denny Sanford Premier Center Event Center SF City Council Sioux Falls

Percentage of local contractors who worked on the Denny Sanford Premier Center is closer to 50% NOT 85%

l3wis 1Comments

So I was all ready to do a blog post about some internal audits when I ran across the interesting graphic below (I highlighted and cropped it to fit my website). Remember what we were told?

The project also is on track to meet the project goal of 85 percent of the work performed by local contractors and suppliers.

Well if you add up the numbers of our own internal audit, it’s not quite 85%, in fact, it’s not even close. If you use just the actuals you will see we spent about $38.3 million on outside (of Sioux Falls and the state) contractors and supplies and about $59.6 million on local contractors.

But there is still some stuff missing. We have NO idea what amount of supplies and outside labor our local contractors used, I couldn’t even began to guess, but let’s lowball it at 25%, that would bring our local numbers to $44.7 million.

Then there is the little discrepancy with MJ Dalsin;

Wall panels/air barrier/roofing   MJ Dalsin Roofing $3.1 million

According to them, they did perform much of this work, but deny ever installing the rippling siding. So who did? That contractor is conveniently left off the audit sheet, and so is the siding settlement.

Secrets, lies, and more secrets and lies. This audit isn’t worth the paper it is printed on.

But as our own auditor says about CMAR (Construction Manager at Risk);

The three biggest risks to the City in using the CMAR delivery method for construction projects are these:

• A poorly written contract favoring the CMAR is entered into by the City who may be inexperienced in the nuances of such contracts.

• Criticism of the process of selecting the CMAR. Since the selection is based upon the more subjective measure of best qualified rather than the objective cost criteria in a DBB project, there may be a perception of favoritism.

• A big problem in the field that the CMAR ignores or covers up. Such a big problem is the only way a CMAR is truly at risk.

A big problem in the field? You mean like poorly installed siding that is covered up in a secret settlement? Never happen 🙁

Click to expand graphic

ec-expend

SF City Council Sioux Falls

Are we finally going to hear what our $500K investment in the Huether Tennis center got us?

l3wis 4Comments

tennis-folly

We were told that they were going to put on clinics for poor kids (because you know, those kids are flocking towards the sport. Soccer? What’s that?) But all we have seen so far is reduced hours, and a blockaded parking lot when major events are happening at the Sanford Sports Complex;

SHEELS IcePlex and Huether Family Match Pointe Presentations by Joe Zueger, Ice Sports Association; and Bill Townsend, Sioux Falls Tennis Association

Love how this presentation was buried in the Public Services. I suggest the councilors on this committee ask for the money back, no, demand it back, before the presentation is even given, and send them on their way.

Whether you are for or against giving public money to any special interest sport group, is a debate for another day. What is ludicrous is that tax dollars were given towards a building that a sitting mayor puts his name on. It’s extremely unethical and should have never happened.

Developers Development Planning Commission SF City Council Sioux Falls

Developer doesn’t get it

l3wis 3Comments

The Oakview neighborhood was successful, for today anyway;

Lloyd Company plans to withdraw its application to rezone this land at 6th and Bahnson at the next city council meeting after hundreds of neighbors complained.

So what were those main concerns the neighbors had? They were really simple; density, drainage, traffic, crime. They have gone to several council meetings and expressed these concerns to the council after the Planning Commission was tone deaf;

. . . it’s just more about the density and the affects of that rippling down to water, traffic and overall safety,” Burke said.

So how did the developer respond to these very simple requests, that’s right, by ignoring the 700 Pound Gorilla(s) in the room;

Lloyd Companies went on to say it has a long standing history in Sioux Falls of building and managing apartment communities that provide safe, clean and affordable housing.

The statement goes on to say ‘While we appreciate the neighborhood’s concerns and have withdrawn our request to rezone the land, despite having taken the time to address key points from the neighborhood, we know that the end result of our project moving forward would have meant that families had an opportunity to live in an area where their kids could get to and from schools, a community center, a park and a library safely – which is something that we believe is incredibly important and should all want for our community.

Huh? The neighbors never really brought up affordable housing, but they did talk about density. Their major concerns were evident. Drainage and Traffic.

Why is it so difficult for developers or better yet our planning department and planning commission to wrap their heads around the fact Sioux Falls is built on a pancake? It can only soak up so much syrup before it starts running off the sides of the plate. It time the planning department faced the facts and grow up already.

Media

Is Stormland TV doing the dirty work for our Hospital Industrial Complexes?

l3wis 8Comments

No doubt A.K. Investigate dug up some interesting stories while investigating Prairie Lakes medical center. These kind of things happen every day in the medical field, do I even dare to say, they happen right here in Sioux Falls?

I could dedicate an entire daily blog to the stories I hear about how people are treated at our local mega-plex hospitals, stories almost identical or worse then what you heard in A.K.’s story.

So why did they have to send her all the way to Watertown to do this story?

I bet if Stormland TV put out a call to patients of the two-headed monsters in Sioux Falls, they could fill the first floor of the Denny with patients.

So it makes you wonder if this was really an ‘investigative’ story to tell us how bad Prairie Lakes is, or if Stormland TV, who makes mega-bucks selling advertising to Sanny & CherVera is just doing their dirty work to pressure Prairie Lakes out of Watertown.

Notice in the stories where patients were transferred to? And suddenly they miraculously survived, or if they would have arrived sooner, they would have.

Wink, Nod, Wink, Wink.

There really isn’t any excuse for how people were treated at Prairie Lakes, it’s awful, but if you think these things don’t happen at our Abbot and Costello hospitals here in Sioux Falls, you better stop your prescription to your opiates immediately.

I’m just trying to figure out when A.K. started working in the sales department instead of the news department.

SouthDaCola-51-SAN-VERA-tv

City Administration Building SF City Council Stop the Funding

Where do we go from here on the Stop the Funding petition drive?

l3wis 2Comments

stopdonations

Some have criticized councilor Stehly for pushing for an advisory vote, but I will commend the 5 councilors who chose to move it to a 2nd reading.

Politically, I believe in having a strategy, sticking to it, piling it on and coming from many directions to solve an issue or get important people elected.

That being said, the advisory vote is an example of another thing to try to stop the repeal of the bonds. This is NOT a time to give up. The 5 councilors, to their credit, worked very hard to stop the bonds, why give up now?

If a judge decides the petitions are valid and they are validated, that means the council will have to set an election date anyway, if they are not, the election would be moot and not happen. So what is the harm in trying? There is NO harm. No tax dollars expended.

There is also a second part of this scenario, let’s say the stars do online and the petitions are validated before October 1st, that means if the mayor still chooses to move forward on the sale, the only thing really stopping him is an action by a judge to impose a temporary restraining order, that is also in the writ filed with the court. Not only would the stars have to align, they would need the help of a couple of passing comets.

Like I said though, you must pile in on. No foul no harm. Besides, no pain, no gain.

I often comment to politicos that Mayor Huether has a ‘win at any cost’ mantra, he is determined and should NEVER be under estimated. He doesn’t lose often. You can’t change Mike’s mind by resting on your laurels or going at 50%+1. You must fight fire with fire.

I encourage the 5 councilors to continue to stoke those fires.

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