South DaCola

Editorial Cartoonist from South Dakota

Sioux Falls

SF City Council Sioux Falls Sioux Falls Chamber of Commerce

Sioux Falls Chamber admits Shape Places screwed the pooch on Wholestone Foods project

l3wis 4Comments

I am opposed to anymore packing plants in Sioux Falls and think a better approach would be chiding Smithfield to leave downtown Sioux Falls for good. But I also don’t believe in fairytales.

Since the beginning of this process I have been adamant that there is little the city council and mayor can do to stop this, and the Chamber pretty much simplified the reasons why;

The people of Sioux Falls approved our city’s current zoning ordinances by 65% in April of 2014.

This was AFTER the city council had already approved it and the citizens referred it to a vote. I voted against Shape Places because it removed many crucial conditional use directives the council used to be able to apply to projects. I believe that if Shape Places was never implemented, we may not have seen a council approval of a new packing plant because there would have been public meetings to address the conditional uses.

You get what you ask for.

Unlike Noem, I applaud the initiative process in this matter (even though this should have been a Charter Amendment that would have forced a special election within in 90 days of certification of signatures). It would have given WF little time to react with a grandfather trick.

I expect, even with the passage of this measure, that there will be some court challenges.

Curt Soehl Cynthia Mickelson SF City Council SF School District Sioux Falls

Mayor TenHaken says FREE youth ridership is part of Sioux Falls ONE initiative

l3wis 5Comments

I guess I was a little surprised to hear that the program was a part of Sioux Falls ONE, an initiative that I still have trouble understanding its mission. This program came about because of years of advocacy from former transit board members, a successful program in Rapid City and the work of former school board President Cynthia Mickelson and councilor Curt Soehl. While I do appreciate the presser and the celebration of a wonderful program it kind of sounds like someone is spiking the football after the rest of the team has already hit the locker room.

Developers Development Downtown Sioux Falls Sioux Falls

Downtown Sioux Falls Crane Collapse accident(?)

l3wis 5Comments

As reported after the incident, the developer claimed that it wasn’t an accident. This is the definition of the word;

an unfortunate incident that happens unexpectedly and unintentionally, typically resulting in damage or injury.

Seems the canary is singing a different tune today;

Following a 200-foot crane collapse at The Steel District in downtown Sioux Falls, the project is back on track, according to Lloyd Companies. 

“The front counterweight separated from the crane and we had the crane tipped over, fortunately, that’s all that really came of it. (There was) very little damage to any precast,” Lloyd Company’s Chief Operating Officer Jake Quasney said. “As you can see now, the building is moving right along.”

As I mentioned before OSHA doesn’t show up to a work site to investigate NOTHING or to be CAUTIONARY. On top of that one of OSHA’s main duties is inspecting cranes before they can be used on a work site;

Companies, supervisors, and workers may not be fully aware of the hazards of operating cranes.  As a result, they may not have implemented proper policies and procedures to minimize risks.  One mechanism to safely evaluate and prepare for risks is through the use of a Job Safety Analysis (“JSA”) or Risk Assessment, which is standard in the industry.  When this does not occur, it can result in catastrophic personal injury or death.  In a JSA, each step of the job is examined to identify potential hazards and to recommend the safest way to perform the work in order to minimize those risks.  According to OSHA:

A job hazard analysis is a technique that focuses on job tasks as a way to identify hazards before they occur. It focuses on the relationship between the worker, the task, the tools, and the work environment. Ideally, after you identify uncontrolled hazards, you will take steps to eliminate or reduce them to an acceptable risk level.

Folks, this appears to be an accident caused by mechanical failure. I await the results of the OSHA report.

Sioux Falls

Sioux Falls needs to get with the times when it comes to E-Bikes

l3wis 3Comments

I appreciated this informative article about E-Bike usage in Sioux Falls;

In Sioux Falls, the bike trail is designated a multiuse trail, and it has a posted 15 mph speed limit. Not every cyclist – e-bike or not – respects that. But it was one of the recent moves to set expectations for those who use the trails.

Part of the problem is that the bike trail has NO posted signs about speed limit, it also has NO posted signs about what is allowable on the trail. Think about it, what is more dangerous? An E-2 that goes 14 MPH or a lightweight pedal road bike that zings past you doing around 25 MPH?

Regulating E-Bikes comes down to two things; 1) speed control 2) throttling.

Other cities have simplified their E-2 bike regulations to just require speed control and NO throttling while on a multi-use trail.

I have argued that E-2’s can actually be safer because you can control the speed and you can set it in a mode that uses pedal assist only.

I have changed my mind about what should be allowed on the trail. I think anything that uses full throttle assist like an electric foot scooter should not be allowed.

I still go back to the economic benefit of regulating E-Bikes properly. It’s good for the sellers, the buyers and the environment. We are just shooting ourselves in the foot by continuing the status quo (which the city isn’t really enforcing anyway).

Trebilcock said the Active Transportation Board, which should convene later this year, likely will look at these issues and make recommendations to the City Council. 

I’m glad to see we may make progress!

Downtown Sioux Falls SF School District Sioux Falls

Sioux Falls School District locks up publicly owned field in Whittier neighborhood

l3wis 9Comments
Both gates on this track and field are locked.

I have heard the excuses already, everything from dog poop to the homeless encampment on the East side of the park. With all the challenges this neighborhood has, why on earth would the school district lock up a public space kids could be playing in? Guess what, all the parks throughout the city have issues with trash, dog poop, etc. Guess what the city does? They clean it up and move on, this is why we collectively pay taxes for public services. Closing green space in a vulnerable neighborhood for kids makes little sense. Taxpayers own this recreational property, take the damn locks off.

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