Sioux Falls City Council Meeting Public Input, 11/17/2015
l3wis [youtube]https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=EirrVJkbNy0[/youtube]
Code Enforcement
Boulevard Garden story on KSFY tonight!
KSFY TV is supposed to have a story tonight about boulevard gardens, it should air at 6PM.
Creating a new boulevard ordinance ‘should’ be a cakewalk
As the council is set to debate changing the boulevard planting ordinance, I suspect they will make it more complicated than it needs to be. There is already talk that a ‘task force’ may have to be created to hammer out the details.
God help us. Remember the ‘Animal Farm’ like drama that took place over chickens in the city? I know, I am trying to forget also (BTW, Rabbits can be pets or food, but I wouldn’t eat their eggs, unless they are Cadbury).
I have told a couple of councilors and citizens in support of the ordinance change that it is really quite simple.
- Revoke the current ordinance of only grass.
- Allow flowers, plants, shrubs, rocks, brick mailboxes, paver stones and other forms of landscaping in boulevard (of course some of this will have to be defined, such as the minimum and maximum size of rocks).
- Don’t make utility companies or city’s public works department liable for damaged plants/landscaping if they have to dig up the boulevard (adjacent property owners responsibility) as long as fair notice is given if it is NOT an emergency.
- A setback from fire hydrants (this will also have to be defined)
- A height requirement on shrubs, flowers and plants (this will also have to be defined)
Other than that, I think a workable ordinance could be hammered out in a matter of a couple of hours, but let’s also remember, some people don’t eat rabbits, they just pet them.
What are the political motives of pushing the cell phone ban?
After watching councilor Erpenbach push the cell phone ban on to the council agenda yesterday during the public services meeting, some wondered what the sudden urgency was?
After hearing the comments yesterday during the meeting and taking the temperature of the council, it seems, as of right now 6 of the councilors will vote against the ban, and even if there were 4 on board, rumor has it that the mayor and city attorney are not in favor of the ban either.
One could argue many things, that this is a state legislator issue, or that the council or charter revision commission should put this on the spring ballot instead of just approving it at a council meeting.
But you have to question the political motivation of Erpenbach to push this ordinance change when she is well aware she doesn’t have support for it? Is she doing this to get her fellow councilors on the record voting against a safety issue? Or is she ramrodding this, so in case it fails, they have time to do a petition drive (something I would like to see). For once it would be nice to see the ‘specials’ in Sioux Falls standing with a clipboard in front of the courthouse instead crying to the council anytime they want their indoor pools and tennis centers and other things. If you truly think this will benefit the safety of the public, get the signatures and get it on the ballot. I would like to see the ‘specials’ work for something for once instead of just greasing palms.
City’s proposed food truck rules ‘Disingenuous’?
I would have to agree with Peter Chang’s comment in the recent Argus article;
“They’re trying to make it look like they’re doing us a huge favor. But we’re not doing anything that needs more regulations. And until now, they’ve let anyone be out until 2 a.m. anyway, so it just seems disingenuous.â€
As Chang points out in the article, food truck vendors already have to meet safety standards, background checks and have insurance. So is this is really just about limiting/extending the time they can operate? Right now they have a peddler’s license that is $35, that would increase to $75. But one has to ask, is this any different than a pizza delivery driver who can deliver until 4 AM? So what’s the point of having any regulations? Sounds like just another busy body city employee looking for something to do.
While I agree they should have their own licenses, I see no reason to complicate it further. People in Sioux Falls like their food trucks, and putting more regulations on them seems counter productive.
But as we see all the time in Sioux Falls, rules seemingly only apply to ‘certain’ individuals. I got a good laugh about this last night watching the city council meeting. The council keeps dinking around in addressing the boulevard ordinance (which requires you to have 100% grass cover in the boulevard) yet the mayor turns around and gives the individual city beautification award to a gentleman who is violating that ordinance. Oh the irony. Joe Sneve did an article about it online the Argus this afternoon, he is still waiting to hear a response from the mayor.