We’ve heard all the excuses, time and time again, that Mayor TenHaken was handed this mess and had his hands tied. Hogwash. They could of canceled the bond for the Bunker Ramp (which probably would have resulted in a hefty fee of around $1 million) but in the end would have saved us this nightmare scenario and millions in bond payments.
At the city council informational on Tuesday, the finance director has finally admitted that the debt service on this POS is dragging the system down;
The solution? Well the first thing I would not have done was give $50 million dollars in tax breaks for 2 parking ramps attached to luxury condos and offices. Why would we subsidize private parking structures when ours are not full?
So now they want to do this;
It’s possible drivers may need to pay for metered parking in downtown Sioux Falls on evenings and Saturdays in the future.
I am on the fence about this. On one hand other cities do this and if the parking ramps remain free on nights and weekends, it could be okay. I also like the fact that it encourages people to either ride share or take other forms of transportation (like an E-Bike) to get DTSF. While I go DTSF almost every day for some kind of errand, I can’t tell you the last time I fed a meter or parked on Phillips Ave. There are FREE parking options DTSF, you just gotta walk a little.
I just wonder who the city thinks they will recruit to be a meter maid on Friday and Saturday nights? No thank you! Enforcement will be the biggest hurdle.
This is what happens when we have feckless leaders in city hall and on the city council dais. They knew it was a bad idea to move forward, the warning sirens were louder then a train whistle, but they were too gutless to tell the public, so now we are paying for it . . . in dimes and quarters.
as someone who now works in one of those office buildings, i’d like to thank the citizens of sioux falls for the free parking. oh wait, i am one of those citizens, so i damn well better be able to park there!
“…. the warning sirens were louder then a train whistle, but they were too gutless to tell the public, so now we are paying for it . . . in dimes and quarters….”
But in fairness to our fearless leaders, they thought the louder sirens were the new high speed trains finally coming to town in a section of town which was suppose to have no more trains and is another debacle of major proportions.
The East Bank train debacle cost the federal taxpayers what? $28 million? The Bunker Ramp $25 million, and the our new bridge to The Land of Cherapa is costing $20 million, isn’t that right? With those kind of figures just think of how much child daycare could be subsided in this fine city.
Oh, and I just learned from a very good source, who would know, that the city is trying to figure out who owns the train track that splits Falls Park, but can’t they just go to the same source that claimed that the BNSF owed the tracks on the East Bank, which caused the City, with the help of the Feds, to fork over $28 million to BNSF? … Oh no, on second thought, I own the track across the Falls. #YahThatsTheTicket …. So, where are my millions?
VSG, before Bill Janklow most of the railroad land was owned by the surrounding landowners through what is called easements with reversion rights back to those who own the property at the time the railroad quits using it. The Congress and Courts decided about thirty years ago, thanks to projects like the George S. Mickelson trail in the hills, if the rail bed is used for transportation within one year, the easement is still in effect.
Bill Janklow found a way for the state to steal the ground under the rail bed and issued quit claim deeds to his friends and associates. Remember how Sioux Falls Lincoln High got the old rail bed land next to I229 after the holder of the quit claim had to give it up when the truth was told? The rail land in South Dakota was rarely sold to the railroads.
Research the original deeds where there was rail lines and you will find a registered deed with easements allowing the railroads to pass through. In my research, very little land was owned by the railroads, only the rock, ties, spikes, switches, buildings and property necessary for the operation of the railroad using the property. The land was never railroad property for them to sell to anyone, including the city or state.
Diane Best was brought to the city because of her work at moving property around without full property searches, go back and review her discussion of this during the $27 million east bank property theft, sorry “sale”. BNSF never owned the land, the state never owned the land and the city never owned the land because it was to easy to just issue quit claim deeds and let future generations try to clean up the mess.
No, the city or the railroads do not own the land under the bridge or under much of the Steel District, the Corp of Engineers control it for the federal government. The land cannot be fee simpled to anyone, including the city or Sioux Steel or the railroad.
Thanks train buff!
( and Woodstock adds: “‘….Bill Janklow found a way for the state to steal the ground under the rail bed and issued quit claim deeds to his friends and associates’?”….. “WHAT?”….. “I’M, I’M SHOCKED!”…. 😉 )