A couple that stuck out to me were the stairs to nowhere, how the signage is NOT working and mostly adults are the ones climbing around on the wet rocks.
I also hope we didn’t pay to much for this report, a 6 page report with about 2 1/2 pages of type.
I have said all along a couple things that would deter more people to stay away from the water would be a sign that talks about the high toxicity of the water and ‘Why Die’ signs at places where people drown.
I’m not sure more railings and big rocks would stop many people from walking around on the rocks. Some times people lack common sense, not sure how you can fix that?
There has been a common theme from City Hall, Public Works and a majority of city councilors; The sewer plant expansion was being planned for a long time. Their evidence? The 5-Year Capital Plan.
While it is true that the studies were listed in the Capital Plan, unless you were a crystal ball reader, a genie or Gaia himself, as a citizen you would have NO idea what the study meant, what pricetag would be attached to the expansion, or when it would be started and completed.
Here are the graphics I created with the specific pages in the Capital Plans going back to 2015 with references to the Expansion (studies):
Click on each image to enlarge and read clearly;
Besides the fact that the information is conveniently buried in the center of the capital plan (which is well over 200 pages) There isn’t a lot of specifics.
In the 2015-2019 plan there is only reference to a half-million dollar study (Which would have been implemented in 2014). In 2016-2020, there is the exact same reference. In the 2017-2021 plan there is NO reference to the study. In the 2018-2022 plan, the study reappears and they FINALLY admit in the document that the sewer plant will have to be expanded (that was in 2017) with NO numbers on an estimated cost and finally in the 2019-2023 plan (prepared this summer) there is an actual plan for the expansion with a price tag of $160 Million (approximately). I find it interesting that in the 2017 plan (prepared in the summer of 2016) there was ZERO mention of a study OR expansion. NONE.
But let’s look at some public meeting video evidence;
The video below is the 5-year Capital Plan/Budget hearing from August 19, 2014. (FF: 1:09:30) during the Sewer presentation NO mention of expanding sewer plant except these words from director Cotter, “Key Projects” coming.
The video below is the 5-year Capital Plan/Budget hearing from August 18, 2015. (FF: 56:00) during the Sewer presentation there is a brief mention of a ‘System Master Plan’.
The video below is the 5-year Capital Plan/Budget hearing from August 16, 2016. (FF: 2:00:00) during the Sewer presentation there was NO mention of expanding the sewer plant.Â
The video below is the 5-year Capital Plan/Budget hearing from August 8, 2017. (FF: 2:22:30) during the Sewer presentation there was mention of the life of the sewer plant running out, as the master plan identified, but nothing was said of when expansion would occur.
I even went back to the 2013 budget hearing. The video below is the Capital Plan hearing from August 13, 2013. (FF: 1:33:00) during the Sewer presentation there was a mention of expanding the sewer plant, and Cotter even said “It will be our largest investment” (gave no dollar amount) then said “We have captured the land for it and we will keep our eye on it.” but did not give a single clue of when that would happen only saying, “In the future.”
I also listened to the 2012 budget hearing, (FF: 2:07:40). No mention of sewer plant expansion, just arterial improvements.
While I appreciate being corrected that Public Works has been working on this for awhile, as we have seen in the videos above, the public certainly wasn’t aware of it. No press releases, no press conferences and certainly no final price tag or date of starting the project, or date of completion, only off hand remarks that it was being planned and coming in the future. Is that ‘COMPLETE’ transparency, integrity and honesty?
Obscure pages in the middle of a 200 page report and off-hand remarks in a once a year budget hearing held in the middle of a Tuesday afternoon doesn’t cut the mustard with me when it comes to open and transparent government. If this project was being planned (at least 4 years ago) why weren’t we made aware of it before building the Denty, the indoor pool, parking ramp or administration building? As Cotter said in 2013 “It will be our largest investment (in the sewer system)”. OK. Thanks for the heads up. But will it be bigger than the Events Center? Will it be bigger than the county jail? Will it be bigger than the School District expansion? Just how ‘large’ is this investment? We never even got an inkling until a few months ago, and those numbers weren’t even accurate.
I guess there is two schools of thought when it comes to government openness in city government. Mine is simple, open all the books all of time. City Hall’s philosophy is, if you want open government, you are going to have to look for it, and even than you will only get clues and hints.
Meeting I is the informational. Meeting II is the Regular city councilor and Meeting III is SF School Board (where they were actually open about who they were buying the middle school land from BEFORE the meeting started on the agenda – Shocker!)
This doesn’t surprise me. I figured it would pass, by at least 60% of the vote, it got over 66%. Even with about a $100 a year property tax increase on $100K valuation. I think the key to the approval was the HIGH voter turnout;
Total turnout was 43.3 percent of active registered voters in the city.
With only two precincts and a single vote issue, this is pretty impressive.
The plan for the pool is also, IMO, fiscally responsible. For around $14 Million they are going to build on the existing site with a combination outdoor/indoor facility. They also garnered around $6 million in pledged private funds with $1 million for naming rights from the Huether Family Foundation (The Yankton city commission has to vote on those naming rights).
While the property tax increase is a little steep, it is truly an investment in the community.
So what is the difference between what Yankton and Watertown has done compared to our public indoor pool? Unlike these communities, we have plenty of options when it comes to indoor pools privately with attached fitness centers. I have often thought the city should have just partnered with the Sanford Sports Complex and built it out there.
The Sioux Falls Parks and Rec department is gearing up on another master plan for their parks. Frank Olson pool is way past it’s life and there has been some talk that they want to replace it with either and indoor pool or spray park. I think they should just build a new outdoor pool. Until the Midco Aquatic Center can break even, we have NO reason to pursue another public indoor pool.
It’s been a week today since the last city council meeting, and Belf continues to rant about how councilor Neitzert was ‘supposedly’ treated after last week’s council meeting. Now he is complaining to the mayor. I asked about this ‘incident’ since I was not there. I usually try to leave the meetings before the end so I don’t have to talk to the elected officials. I figure if they can’t talk to me during the public forum, why should I talk to them afterwards? What I was told is that a constituent, who knows Neitzert very well and has a good relationship with him ‘jokingly’ said to him he was a ‘rubber stamper puppet’. I guess he didn’t take it as a joke until this person laughed and told him they were joking. I’m not sure if this is how it played out, but I find it really hard to believe someone would ‘visciously’ get in his face and say this to him after the meeting. But since Batman didn’t die this week, Belf had to dig up some fake controversy.
The mayor, also continues to claim Stehly was ‘misleading’ the public about the $300 a month statement. It was a sarcastic figure of speech. Get over it already. The mayor also knows very little about how we have historically funded infrastructure projects, he claims we have always used enterprise funds. Not true, that change occurred during the last administration because the mayor at that time wanted to free up the 2nd penny to spend on pleasure palaces. Some have even claimed that Bowlcut & Bucktooth did more for our roads. Not true. Our roads were rated around 70% Good to Fair (which is a good rating) when he came into office. We had the same rating when he left.
TenHaken also claimed that our city employees (mostly directors) do things with the highest integrity. I have often argued their integrity is only matched by those who lead them. When the former mayor was lying about the siding settlement with the help of Fiddle-Faddle, why didn’t any of these city directors come forward and blow the whistle? Wouldn’t this be considered having integrity? I have said all along, it is very similar to the movie ‘A Few Good Men’. The city employees and mostly directors follow the orders of their leader, whether it is right or wrong. That is why I have had very little faith in how this sewer plant was ‘planned’.
l3wis 
