It looks like it was requests by the city, Item #2. Not sure why a lot of this stuff wasn’t included in the cost, especially the $37K in patio furniture (good grief).
Apparently Councilor Rick Kiley has a crystal ball, because he is predicting our water and sewer rates are going up;
“They foresee a possible increase of about $2 per month for a family of five,” city councilor Rick Kiley said.
Kiley says the city knew this day was coming.
“You never want to raise rates, but in a situation like this where we are at 82% capacity today, we have a community that’s growing by 5,000 people every year and we are bringing on regional customers in addition to that it’s the prudent thing to do now is to expand our existing facilities,” Kiley said.
The city council will be voting on the funding this project when it passes the city budget in October.
While I agree we need to fix up a 1980’s water treatment plant, if we didn’t switch the rates over to enterprise funds we could easily pay the bonds with 2nd penny CIP revenue without raising fees. But see, former mayor Bucktooth & Bowlcut wanted to free up the 2nd penny from paying for silly old water pipes, and use it for paying down bonds for monument building.
So now our taxes are going up for a new jail, and Minnehaha county admitted at their Tuesday meeting (Commissioner Barth) that there will likely be another opt out, put that on top of a 25 year around $300 million dollar new school bond and our already existing $300 million city debt, and things are going to get a lot more expensive in Sioux Falls, including taking a dump.
(KELO-TV screenshot)
Funny how the small town of Sturgis has more common sense than Sioux Falls;
But then, someone suggested putting solar panels on top of the structure instead of canvas, and using the power to knock a big chunk out of the combination city hall/library building’s electrical bill.
While there has been plenty to say about our new $25 million dollar administration building and all it’s technology and LEED certification, why didn’t we put solar panels on it to power itself? Oh, because that would have made sense, and we can’t have any of that when building city facilities.
Love the above quote.
Some in power in this great town think they are the ONLY one who gets to make the grand decisions, like when it comes to Indoor Pools or Administration buildings.
In this Documentary, Jane Jacobs takes citizen activism to her city, NY, on a large scale;
Citizen Jane is a timely tale of what can happen when engaged citizens fight the power for the sake of a better world. Arguably no one did more to shape our understanding of the modern American city than Jane Jacobs, the visionary activist and writer who fought to preserve urban communities in the face of destructive development projects. Director Matt Tyranuer (Valentino: The Last Emperor) vividly brings to life Jacobs’ 1960s showdown with ruthless construction kingpin Robert Moses over his plan to raze lower Manhattan to make way for a highway, a dramatic struggle over the very soul of the neighborhood.
Jane shows that you can make a difference on a local level, and take on the ‘big wigs’ and win.
Our Romantix Annex Office building is never without a story. The latest one we have is how the foundation may have erupted the budget. We’re sure the town’s chief marketing officer will find a way to dispute this but our construction sources are reporting the quartzite blasting has left the building already over budget – but the public will never know, because the CMAR process keeps that all secret-secret.
The need for heated underground parking garage for special cars to be parked is putting the building behind before it is finished. What do you suppose they are going to say was unimportant so the building can com in “under†budget?