It all gets started for me tonight as I got accepted to Citizen Planning Academy, it’s a two-part class about city planning. About 30 citizens & development professionals are signed up. Should be fun.
Sioux Falls City Council Informational Meeting, 4 PM, Tuesday
As I have mentioned earlier, the administration’s EC team will be answering questions about the siding settlement. This should be an interesting Q & A. I also wonder if the EC’s primary building inspector, and now a former city employee, the project manager will make an appearance?
Sioux Falls City Council Regular Meeting, 7 PM, Tuesday
The council meeting itself is pretty sleepy.
In item#1, consent agenda, the parking ramp negotiations continue to drag on, so much they had to pay outside counsel another $30K. Please council, KILL THIS NOW before it costs us anymore!
Sioux Falls Charter Revision Commission, 4 PM, Wednesday
This will be their first meeting before the Spring municipal election. They will basically just set their meeting calendar at this meeting. It will be interesting to see if they address the conflict of interest that one of the members of the CRC is the wife of a mayoral candidate and whether or not it is appropriate she serves.
Sioux Falls Planning Commission, 6 PM, Wednesday
Item#6, ZONE the Railroad Yards. I don’t call this the RR relocation project, because nothing is getting relocated accept the switchyard. Two tracks will still remain that will run more frequent. Taxpayers will even have to pay for a fence beside the two remaining tracks.
Rezone map also looks peculiar, notice that not all of the surrounding land is getting zoned.
This was an incredible waste of $27 million in Federal money. Just imagine all of the things we could have re-developed DT for that same amount, AND moved the RR tracks permanently out of the area. Huether likes to think of this as one of his greatest achievements as our mayor, but it was actually one of the most wasteful Federal pork projects ever done in our city.
What’s up with Jill Entemann serving on both the Charter Revision and Zoological Boards?
I heard that the city hired a consultant (aka witch doctor) to find water underneath the new city administration building. He told them where to dig for water for a $10,000 fee. When they dug in that spot; no water was found. Have you heard that? Doesn’t surprise me in the least.
From the city website:
Zoological Society Board Members
• Lisa Beacom, Secretary/Treasurer
• Melanie Carpenter, Vice Chair
• LaDawn Dykhouse
• Jill Entenaman
• Sheri Fischer
• Dr. Pam Homan
• Jeff Hugunin, Chair
• Jerri Johnson
• Dr. Denis Miller
• Jan Paulson
• Jon Pederson
• Larry Ritz
• John Olson (Mayoral appointment) Term expires – March 2020
• Jeffrey Griggs (Mayoral appointment) Term expires – April 2020
Updated: January 2017
From the city website:
Zoological Society of Sioux Falls
Number of Members: 14
Special Qualifications:
One-seventh of the members of the board are Mayoral appointments.
Residency/Registered Voter Requirement: Must be a resident and registered voter of Sioux Falls. (Mayoral appointments only.)
Summary of Duties: To provide oversight of the operation, management, maintenance, planning, and development of the Great Plains Zoo and Delbridge Museum, and to assist in fund-raising activities to ensure appropriate financial support of the Zoo.
City Liaisons:
Elizabeth A. Whealy
President and CEO
Great Plains Zoo
805 South Kiwanis Avenue
Sioux Falls, SD 57104
605-367-8313, ext. 12
Julie M. Wilson
Mayor’s Executive Secretary
City Hall, First Floor
224 West Ninth Street
Sioux Falls, SD 57117
605-367-8800