After the ice storm there was a discussion about passing an ordinance that prohibits anyone from planting new or replacement trees in the boulevard. Besides the obvious mess it creates if we have windy storms, boulevard trees often cause damage to taller vehicles like trucks and snowplow maintainers. The roots also wreak havoc on utilities.
Before the ash borer the city would remove a tree in the boulevard at no cost to the homeowner. The top two reasons were it was either dead or messing with utilities.
It’s at least time to discuss the matter and do some serious research on the possibility. There are also many arguments for them. I think you could have it both ways, by maybe limiting density, etc. You could also have homeowners plant trees on the private property side of the city sidewalk.
Since Tuesday’s disaster I have been waiting for a government official representing Sioux Falls and South Dakota to say the FEMA word. No one has until yesterday when Rounds finally talked about FEMA assistance. But he clarified that would be up to Noem to ask for that assistance. So Donita Trump Noem. Are you? How about you Paul? As I said to someone today, watching the city’s ‘political’ response this week is like watching 1st Graders run city government for a class experiment.
So we hire private contractors to clean up residential areas while city employees are cleaning up the bike trail?! There was 4 of them. While I do know that cleaning up the bike trail is important and has to be done eventually, shouldn’t the priority be the residential neighborhoods first?
And apparently NOW the city says they ‘could’ pick up your stuff if you cannot;
Funny, as I predicted, TenHaken had a change of heart after Stehly and Starr put a motion forward. Heck, Neitzert’s FB post from below even disappeared. I wonder why? But the bigger issue is the mixed messages out there, citizens are confused why the city is picking up stuff when they said they would not. Many people have told me that the private contractors have been picking up all waste in the boulevard and have been asking NO questions about where it came from. So are they NOT following orders? Who knows? I guess one resident said that Councilor Kiley told some people to stop putting their private property waste in the boulevard, they ignored him and guess what? They picked it up. So I’m telling people, just drag it out there, they will probably pick it up.
Somebody asked me if I volunteered? I did not. Nobody asked me for help, in fact one of my friends asked ME if I needed help, I told him NO.
You will see that Neitzert calls the motion a political stunt. Greg can say some pretty ridiculous things (probably why he took it down). When a natural disaster occurs you have to have a multiple tiered approach. They definately should include volunteers, and I commend people for that. But it also should include a government response with assistance in cleanup. All people are asking for is that the rubbish be removed from the boulevard, they will do the work to get it out there. Why is this so complicated?
I will say it again, we pay taxes and maintain a reserve fund for these kind of events. This is NOT a handout, we will be paying for it. Not sure why the mayor is acting like the city doesn’t have two nickels to rub together.
The only political stunt occurring is the mayor and some city councilors acting like they know how to lead, because they are failing miserably.
Press Release Contact: Joan McMillin Phone: 605-331-0037 Email: commongroundssd@gmail.com
Secure Our Election Rally
When: Tuesday, September 17, 10:00 a.m.
Where: Office of Senator John Thune, 5015 S, Bur Oak Place, Sioux Falls
Why: Our elections are under attack. We have been warned by Robert Mueller, by FBI Director Christopher Wray, by the bipartisan Senate Intelligence Committee, and by all our intelligence agencies that our elections in 2020 will be under even greater attack by Russia and other nations.
Yet legislation which would dedicate $600 million to update vulnerable election systems and ensure all votes are backed up by paper ballots sits languishing on the desk of Senate Leader Mitch McConnell..
We are rallying to urge Senator Thune to use his influence as the second ranking Republican in the Senate to bring this legislation to a vote. It has bipartisan support.
What is more important to our democracy than that our elections are secure?
At Tuesday’s meeting a resolution will be proposed to help with storm cleanup. Many residents throughout the city have been reaching out to councilors about picking up branches from private property ‘IF’ left in the boulevard by the curb like they did with the ice storm.
Even though the RS5 normally votes against these things, I have a feeling this will get the support of all 8 councilors. I would go even one step forward and guess PTH made have a change of heart over the weekend and implement this himself on Monday or before.
The rumor is that the administration is calling this a ‘HANDOUT’ instead of a handup. I guess filling potholes, building streets, clean water and educating little Johnny is a ‘HANDOUT’ to. Cleaning up after natural disasters is a duty of our government, this is what we pay taxes for.
l3wis 
