No regular meetings this next week, but some interesting tidbits.
Joint Minnehaha County/SF City Council meeting • 4 PM (11/27)
This one is at the County Commission Chambers in the Administration Building.
Another study by Augustana on Homeless peeps. Why do homeless studies cost so much? What? No qualified volunteers?
DOC:Â Homeless-Study
Breakfast Club • 7:30 AM (11/28)
What an interesting topic to cover over juice and donuts;
I sent this email to Mayor Paul TenHaken and the Sioux Falls City Council tonight. Hopefully I will get an answer to my question about planning and transparency;
Dear Councilors & Mayor,
I have some concerns with how fast we are pushing the new 5G rules and regulations for Sioux Falls.
First, to the health concerns. I have done some of my own research on this and it seems the ‘jury is out’. While there doesn’t seem to be any short term harmful effects to humans because of the powerful microwaves emitted from 5G antennas, there simply hasn’t been enough long term studies done on it. Now, I’m not saying they are unsafe, but would like to see our local government be very cautious on how close they are placed to dense office, schools, parks and residential areas.
Besides the health impact to the community, there is also a visual impact of these devices. Will they be hidden enough to just blend into their environment or will they stick out like a sore thumb?
I guess my biggest concern is that it seems all these sudden rules, regulations and permitting fees and licensing have been decided behind closed doors with the help of some very powerful people in Washington. I hope this is NOT the case.
I’m wondering if any public meetings were held to get feedback from the community? I am wondering if the public will have a chance to weigh in? I’m also wondering how much my city council and even school board and county commissions got to weigh in on these new rules?
We were promised transparency by the new council, the current sitting council and mayor during the election, I’m hoping moving forward with 5G we will have full openness and transparency, I don’t want to see Sioux Falls residents turned into lab rats for powerful Washington lobbyists and industry. I think 5G is an amazing opportunity for Sioux Falls, if done right.
Please assure me that I’m not being treated like a rat.
Scott L. Ehrisman
Sioux Falls, SD
That wasn’t all entirely true, Councilors Brekke and Starr brought a little reason to the sewer rate increase discussion tonight after Rick Kiley had a total meltdown when Stehly called him out about disparaging the work of staff. Which made it even more ironically funny, because all Kiley does is constantly compliment staff sometimes just for opening the toilet stall door. So when Theresa reminded him that staff helped her come up with her numbers, Ricky Lee went ballistic, twice. Memorable stuff.
Soehl suggested that she share her information in advance (you know, like the rest of the council does with Theresa and Pat . . . LOL!)
But let’s get to the serious stuff. Janet was smart to bring up the history of the 2nd penny and it’s use for infrastructure and Starr quoted Citizen Stanga wondering why so much of the 2nd penny goes towards ‘play things’.
Most people don’t realize, when you buy anything in this town, a portion goes towards paying down the bonds on the Denty from the 2nd penny. Whether you use the facility or not (in which you have to purchase a ticket) you still have to pay for it’s mortgage. You can always sit outside for free and admire the ‘interesting’ siding.
The council totally ignored the gorilla. While they argued up and down that sewer rates must rise to pay for upgrades because it is only fair to charge the user, they avoided the fact that the play palaces bonds in our town are not paid for by user fees, not one penny. Brekke and Starr came the closest to suggesting we have a long term strategic plan to look how we spend the 2nd penny (to which they got crickets). All they could focus on was that Stehly said $300.
If you want to have an honest and fair conversation about user fees and paying down bonds, as several councilors suggested, then we need to start talking about how the Denty is going to start paying it’s own bonds moving forward. I don’t think a person who can afford to pay $150 to see a Jackass in a cowboy hat would blink an eye at paying an extra $3-5 ticket fee for bonds. Heck, most wouldn’t even notice it after there $10 Coors Light and $8 dollar pretzel.
If the council thinks it is fair to raise rates to pay for sewer infrastructure then they need to also pass a city ordinance that attaches a bond repayment ticket fee to all the shows at the Denty. Otherwise they are just a bunch of hypocrites . . . wait?!
Another portion of the conversation that was left out tonight is the simple word ‘conservation’. Actually, Public Works Director Cotter was the ONLY one who brought it up, recognizing that the conservation programs he helped implement have reduced water usage. And you can’t argue with his numbers, they are astounding and measurable (bravo to Cotter). While he gave this ‘gentle hint’ to the council, no one decided to run with it. We could actually spend a lot less by implementing even stronger and more stringent water conversation programs which would decrease our sewer usage. Many have even suggested eliminating lawn watering by planting more draught resistant natural grasses instead of non-native ones.
Besides just considering the 2nd Penny, we have alternatives to save us money on these projects, but as Brekke has suggested since she ran for the office, it takes PLANNING!
Informational Meeting • 4 PM
Presentations on;
October Financial Report & update to the garbage hauler ordinance;
Chapter 57 Ordinances Summary of Changes
• The purpose of this update to Chapter 57 was a general cleanup of the ordinance language
• Added definition of Industrial Waste and Municipal Waste to accurately reflect the EPA’s definition of recycling and municipal solid waste
• 57.047 – Allows the landfill to charge up to $3 per passenger car, pickup truck, or two-wheel trailer for use by anyone in the landfill’s service area to use the leaf drop-off sites
• 57.051 added in ability to use/sell byproducts deposited at the landfill (landfill gas, scrap metal recycling) and the ability to donate bicycles deposited at the landfill to nonprofit organizations as provided by SDCL 43-41-11
• 57.067 changed to require hauler vehicles to permanently display a commercial garbage hauler’s name in easily legible letters at least six inches high on both sides of the vehicle. The name displayed must be the same as the name on the hauler’s license, but may also include a logo or other language
Land Use Committee Meeting • 4:30ish, after informational
Presentation; Engineering Design Standards by Public Works staff.
Regular City Council Meeting • 7 PM
Item #1, Approval of Contracts;
Lots of money going towards affordable housing, ironically.
Item #26, City Electric Rate increases
Item #27, Drainage Fee increases
Item #28, Sewer Fee increases
I find it interesting in these 3 ordinances how in the agenda language they don’t say it is a fee ‘increase’ only that it ‘pertains’ to the ordinances. A little trick in government language to not alarm the citizens.
Item #29, Resolution, Union contract with municipal employees. It’s a two year contract in which they will get a 2.5% COLA in 2019 and a 3% in 2020.
UPDATE: Just when you thought this couldn’t get any better, KSFY decided to put Stehly’s comments back in the story with this disclaimer;
Mayor Paul TenHaken has called into question Stehly’s comment about sewer bills rising to $300 a month. He calls it an absurd assertion. KSFY News initially removed the comment after the story aired over concerns that it was confusing, but we have since put the comment back in. Stehly says she stands by her comment.
Prairie Values TV Journalism at it’s best. Maybe KSFY should just stick to doing stories about charity dog races, halloween decorations and food trucks and let the newspaper and blogs cover the ‘real’ news.
It is one thing to edit a story based on having a name misspelled, or numbers and places that or incorrect. That is responsible journalism. But to edit an ‘Opinion’ of an elected official after another elected official in same government entity sends out an email, well, is horrible journalism. I often chuckle at Trump when he says ‘Fake News’ but in this case, one has to wonder.
The other night on KSFY they did a story on the wastewater treatment plant, Councilor Stehly said she has a ‘concern’ that water bills could exceed $300 dollars a month. While I kind of cringed when she said that, it is what it is, an OPINION. (she really isn’t that far off the mark, while our bills will increase $2 a month, for a small business owner they could easily see bills increasing to $300. In fact, over the past decade our water/sewer bills have increased 93%).
Well this ‘Opinion’ did not sit well with Selfie Paul, he sent out this email to city staff and the media (I was conveniently NOT included);
Councilor Stehly:
Thank you for the opportunity this week to once again provide you with information on the Water Reclamation System. Upcoming investments in the collection and treatment systems is a foundational investment crucial to both current and future residents who expect a reliable wastewater collection and treatment system.
The administration has invested hundreds of hours on this project due to the importance of this infrastructure for our city as well as the large price tag attached to it. We have also spent time briefing the City Council, media and public on the importance of this project.
Unfortunately, this week you broke a sacred trust elected leaders have with their constituents. As elected officials we have an obligation to present factual information to the public. That is what I have done in my role as mayor and that is what I expect of city employees. Yesterday, on KSFY and on Tuesday at City Council Informational you stated wastewater customers will experience a $300 per month rate increase as a result of this project. Spreading such misinformation when factual projections have been presented to you is a disservice to your constituents and I’m disappointed you knowingly spread this false information.
Talk about misinformation! It was simply an opinion of ONE city councilor. In the original KSFY story (the edited version is here) Stehly’s ‘Opinion’ was in there, after this email was sent it was edited out of the video (almost) and the text.
Ironically though they didn’t edit the close captioning, it still remains there;
I’m NOT blaming the reporter for this, I’m sure the higher ups made this decision to edit the story, which makes it even more egregious. There’s a fine line between FACTS and OPINIONS, maybe someone should explain this to the producers of KSFY or more importantly the Mayor.
l3wis