How is the Midco Aquatic Center doing?

I was just thinking last week, how is that place doing financially? How much are we subsidizing?

We haven’t had an update in a very long time.

There is also a flurry of rumors circulating that;

• The major sponsor is NOT happy with their investment . . .

• 2019 membership renewals are not good . . .

• Sanford is planning to build an Olympic sized, competitive pool at the Sports Complex . . . (gee, what a concept!)

Not sure if any of this is true, but a financial report would help to clear up any of these rumors.

Sioux Falls, South Dacola, Year in the Review (Part III)

• Sioux Falls gun owners continue to leave their precious possessions in their unlocked autos. State law prohibits the city council from passing idiocy ordinances to stop it.

• Sioux Falls official city flag FINALLY gets approved. Various local schwag vendors rejoice.

• Sioux Falls School district puts on the ‘Transparency’ mask with some grandstanding about task force meetings, then after the election (tabulated by the finance department) the act has ended.

• The Emerald Ash borer rears it’s head. Where is George Washington when we need him?

• Mayor TenHaken decides to post the audio of the Parks Board meetings on the city website (we still don’t know who is talking) but they may be video recorded starting in 2019.

• Councilor Stehly asked for an Ethics opinion from the commission on petition gathering. Told her they couldn’t give an opinion until she told them what she was gathering it for. Go figure.

• City does wage study (so they can screw the unions) but doesn’t do a study on Director/Manager salaries. Shocker. My research shows they are extremely overpaid.

• SF Planning Commission continues to pass zoning items based on favoritism instead of facts.

• City enforces a DTSF ordinance that requires bars/restaurants to have rope barriers between the sidewalk and patio. I guess patrons can’t see the dividing line . . .

• Dem Forum moves to Royal Fork after the VFW gives them a couple hour notice they have decided to eliminate lunches.

• I win the Public Input contest, commenting 26 times within a year.

• We are told the Sewer plant expansion was never a secret (just it’s cost, when we were going to do it and the impact on our rates).

• State puts out report on TIFs. Tells us nothing about their economic impact (funny, because there isn’t one).

• The Railroad Redevelopment Project gets one RFP than tosses it out. Still think this was the worst negotiated deal in the history of our city.

• Smithfield has major expansion. They claim it will make the facility less stinky. I grew up on a hog farm, and I can guarantee when you double your capacity of hogs, things don’t get less stinky.

• Legacy Developments tries to make up for all the bad press they are getting by giving DTSF a temporary dog park. How fitting.

• Patrick Lalley’s brother, Kevin, starts a new fun Tuesday night gathering at Club David called ‘Public Input’ a Bingo and Drinking party while watching the SF city council meetings.

• Full Circle Book Club opens DTSF and is jam packed with great books and fun activities. Finally Sioux Falls feels like a big city.

• The Levitt Band Shell is on schedule but won’t allow patrons to BYOB but will let you buy from a vendor of your choice. Just when you thought you were going to get something FREE in Sioux Falls . . . tricked again.

• Jeff Schmidt from the SF Planning Department suddenly disappears from public meetings after he throws a fit about joint jurisdiction with the county over a proposed wedding barn that may hamper housing development (ten years from now). I wonder if his new office still has urine stains on the walls?

• Mayor TenHaken throws 100 Day press conference to tell us he turned city government over to his COS and Bloomberg or something.

Are Developers paying too much in Platting Fees? Absolutely NOT!

If anyone has been paying too much for NEW infrastructure and development, it has been the tax payers of Sioux Falls. When the 2nd Penny sales tax was raised to a full penny over a decade ago to fund infrastructure expansion, the promise was developers would put in 40-60% into that fund in platting fees. That hasn’t happened, not even close. In fact, taxpayers at one point were putting in over 10x more into that fund then the developers.

Well apparently some developers are now crying the platting fees are too much (about $20K per acre on vacant lots in undeveloped areas). Sioux Falls City Councilor Greg Neitzert talked about it in a recent post on his Facebook page. He seemed to be sympathizing with the developer because they used the tired old excuse that they pass those prices to the consumer of the new development. Well duh. The consumer is getting brand new sewer, water, and roads, why shouldn’t they pay the cost? How is charging me extra in sales taxes fair? What do I get out of it except higher taxes and water/sewer rates?

In about 50% of US cities with populations of 25K or more they charge the developer a 100% of the cost of new development infrastructure, so current users are not subsidizing new growth. This makes sense, because as I have often argued, new growth without a plan to pay for it, makes no sense. Slow growth that is properly funded is fiscally responsible to taxpayers. When developers don’t have enough workers to build their developments, that should tell us that maybe the ‘growth’ isn’t needed. Who are you building and expanding for?

I think we should eliminate platting fees all together and have developers instead pay for the entire cost of new infrastructure. If the NEW development is really truly needed, it will pay for itself. That’s just common sense.

Sioux Falls, South Dacola, Year in the Review (Part II)

 

• Sioux Falls hosts Pheasant Fest for the first time, yet no one stays at our hotels for the event.

• Trains running through DTSF have two derailments this year, but nobody seems to be worried. Maybe that’s why Billion pulled out?

• Sioux Steel announces big redevelopment project Downtown. Maybe we will finally get our secret hidden park back?

• Nobody in the city knows if an actual safety study of Falls Park has been done after a little girl drowns. First it WAS done, than it was mis-information, than it was a training exercise, than lastly it was just an ‘Oral’ report. We finally got a real study done last month (that didn’t tell us anything we didn’t already knew).

• Mayoral Candidate Loetscher proposes Police Precincts, the TenHaken campaign beats her up over it, than after becoming mayor proposes precincts but calls them by a different name.

• Council Candidate Brekke holds news conference about the mayor’s Executive Orders and gag order on city employees.

• Legacy Developments ‘tries’ to blame the media and blogs for their negative image. I guess that building collapse and illegal asbestos removal had nothing to do with it.

• Argus Leader endorses TWO mayoral candidates before runoff. WTF?

• Several city election candidates violate sign ordinances by posting signs in the city owned boulevard (parking strip).

• Mayoral Candidate Jim Entenman spends a record $41.40 per vote and gets his ass handed to him.

• Liquor license parking seems to be the new trend for the rich and well connected, first Sanford then the Lamont companies.

• TenHaken campaign donor has his children donate thousands to campaign to skirt donation limit rules. Slimy.

• The GOP hate machine, once again gets involved in a non-partisan mayoral race. They know no limits. Slimeballs.

• TenHaken’s 100 day plan goes to Sh*t!

• Former Republican Lavallee co-chairs TenHaken’s mayoral campaign, than runs as Lt. Governor for Sutton’s campaign. Only in South Dakota.

• Highlight of the year, interviewing Mayor Pete Beuttigieg;

• Mayor Huether gets nominated for a Golden Padlock award for the Secret Siding Settlement. He doesn’t win.

• Rex Rolfing exits the city council than runs for District 13 and gets beat by a newbie. Thank Gaia.

• Transparency is promised by the new council and mayor, we are still waiting.

• Mr. Bendo moves, but told his pipe holding is a violation of sign code. The ridiculous notion gets sorted out.

• Newly Elected Mayor TenHaken appoints former Developer Executive his COS. Didn’t see that one coming. Yeah right. He also appoints a partisan hack as deputy COS who in his free time enjoys bashing liberals on FB.