I actually took this picture a week ago and found it on my desktop today. There is this low spot by my house in the road, it has been there ever since I have lived in the neighborhood for almost 20 years. I think it has been torn up and fixed ONE time, but it has been filled in several different ways over the years, here is the latest attempt. I am not sure if this was a serious attempt to fix it or if the pothole crew has been taken over by a group of abstract sculptors.
So I have been getting several calls today about what Poops said about the Wastewater Treatment Plant in this interview yesterday;
TenHaken says city is trying to remain cognizant of rising inflation
But as he looked toward the next year, he said the city is also trying to remain cognizant of rising inflation and that many people are dealing with “incredible monetary tension” at the moment as they consider any sort of city fees or rate increases.
It’s hitting the city, too. TenHaken said groundbreaking on the expansion of the city’s wastewater plant has been postponed as “historic price escalations” began piling up.
“We’re not ready to break ground yet,” TenHaken said, “because we still got a lot of pencil sharpening to do now based on the price escalation we’re seeing.”
To be honest with you, it surprised me also. The city has bonded $260 Million dollars for the plant, and has been working on it (not sure what the groundbreaking is about). The city has been spending the money and construction has begun. I look at this project as essential for growth, and it should have been started 10 years ago. Why didn’t that happen? Well because Huether put it off so he could bond for the Midco, City Admin, Bunker Ramp and Events Center. Ten Haken continued with the Bunker Ramp and has been handing out TIFs and other Booty Prizes like a drunken pirate, including $10 million last night to DSU.
There is absolutely no reason this project should be stalled and the contractors need to be held to their bid obligations. You also have to take into account that this department in the city is funded mostly by FEES and not taxes because it is an enterprise fund, and our fees have been drastically raised to help pay the bonds on this. If we need to take money from the 2nd penny to finish it, we have to do it, plain and simple.
Still curious why the public and council have not been alerted about a pause on a $260 million dollar essential infrastructure project? Oh, I forgot, it’s that transparency thing the administration hates so much.
You be the judge.
Item #6, Sub ITEM #1 = Consent Agenda (Contracts) – Lease Agreement for 900 West Cherokee Street and 1607 North E Avenue, Sioux Falls, SD for use by Vector Control Agreement Term through 12/31/22 with the option to extend for 4 additional 1 year terms = $45,300/year.
While the city has tons of storage to have the Vector control facility and storage on city property they have chosen to rent private space in a machine shed.
Ironically they have told us that the skiter spray is completely safe (nevermind the concentration of it is highly toxic and flammable). So safe apparently they can’t store on city property and they have to rent a private facility (a machine shed in the industrial park.) At least they got it out of the basement of city hall (I heard rumors it used to be there.)
As I have been saying for years, we are breaking these records by ignoring affordable housing, handing out millions in tax rebates and TIFs and including publicly funded projects while raising property taxes a record amount.
If you read the article you see that two large chunks of permitting were projects that received millions in TIF money and another large chunk was public projects like the water treatment plant and the public safety center.
I have often argued that permits should be separated into PUBLIC PROJECTS and COMMERCIAL PROJECTS.
Private Commercial projects build economic growth, but when they are propped up by massive tax rebates it’s just putting gasoline on the fire. As for Public Projects, those are funded by the taxpayers as investments in infrastructure and should NOT be considered towards the permitting financials as part of economic growth. Sure, we have to build these facilities because of growth, but it also means our taxes are going up to do so while handing out tax breaks to the very developers fueling the uncontrollable growth. It is counter productive and simply growth for growth sakes instead measured, calculated slower growth.
I would love to see the city stop giving TIFs for Korean owned egg roll factories and parking ramps and start applying them to neighborhoods. Or better yet abolish TIFs all together and simply invest tax dollars in neighborhoods by encouraging the construction of more affordable housing through other tax incentives. Instead recently the city code enforcers bombarded neighborhoods in the central district with pink spray paint and violation notices for city owned sidewalks. What a great way to prop up our central neighborhoods by fining citizens to fix city owned property (more on this story in the near future).
Recently CountCilor Alex ‘Expert Economist’ Jensen suggested on CityLink that the way to solve our workforce and housing issues is by inviting people to work in Sioux Falls but to live in towns around us like Tea, Hartford, Dell Rapids, etc. Yeah, that’s an awesome way to build a solid tax base 🙁 and this guy works at a bank!
I would also like to see separating commercial and public permits. They don’t represent the same thing and shouldn’t be held up together. It’s like saying you are the championship BBQ’r in your own backyard and buying yourself a trophy. The city saying they broke records by including infrastructure projects they approved and we are paying for through higher taxes is putting the thumb on the scale.
Don’t get me wrong, economic development is good, but let’s be honest about the numbers and where the money is coming from (mostly taxpayers) and let’s start investing in neighborhoods, local businesses and people – then you will see true economic development we can be proud of because you can’t live in a parking ramp, police firing range or an egg roll.
The city council bowed down to the garbage haulers last night essentially allowing them to charge a valet fee to pick up garbage by your house if you can’t carry it to the end of the driveway (Councilor Neitzert and Starr voted against the measure). So not only will cans be blowing all over the streets moving forward, they will probably remain there all week since the city really has no enforcement.
One company already told a person today that the valet service would be $17 extra a month even if you have a disability. Some have already been discussing if this is an ADA violation discriminating against handicapped and elderly folks. We will see the complaints coming.
Also, as Councilor Starr pointed out last night, Kiley’s Amendment didn’t get a required 24 hour notice to the council a rule that Kiley and Erickson have squawked about in the past when other councilors have not followed the rule. In fact the city attorney is the one who thinks this rule should be followed even though he remained silent about it last night.
I understand the haulers complaints about gas and labor issues, but the haulers already have the power to raise rates, they just wanted the council to validate it for them.
I have argued that common sense could easily fix many of these issues and actually lower our rates without getting rid of the private service or valet. Two things I have suggested are setting up sectors and days when garbage can be picked up during the week in a specific neighborhood and stop charging the haulers tipping fees unless they go over a certain tonnage or are dropping trash from other communities. The first idea has actually been thrown around for awhile and would save the haulers on fuel and labor. The second idea has probably not been discussed but makes sense. The taxpayers already own the landfill and pay for it’s maintenance. We also make money from the methane and other materials we sell. It doesn’t make sense for the city to charge a private hauler tipping fees then have them turn around and charge the consumer for dropping garbage off at a facility we own. It’s like putting a parking meter in your driveway.
The council should have voted for Neitzert’s original amendment to leave it alone and discussed putting together a task force to explore other options to save money. Neitzert said it best last night, what we currently have now is a ‘community standard’ we should be proud of. Once again, the rubber stampers took the easy cruise control government route that will make service more expensive and messier without solving the root causes. I’m surprised Carnegie didn’t explode last night with all the DUMB on the DIAS.
There is also a rumor circulating that an open meetings violation will be filed since public input was NOT allowed during the meeting on two items (Club David’s liquor license, and Covid study). Both were pulled from the consent agenda and the Chair of the meeting, Mayor TenHaken, did not request public input, and neither did the clerk or other councilors.