September 2014

Recycling in Sioux Falls

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A few weeks back, AL reporter John Hult wrote an article about how the State Fair was not recycling. While I thought that needed to be reported, I emailed John and reminded him that many restaurants throughout Sioux Falls don’t recycle (besides cardboard and cooking oil).

If you don’t believe me, just drive around and look into restaurant dumpsters. Not to mention, I have worked in the industry on and off over the past 20 years in Sioux Falls. One place I worked at used to go through a lot of aluminum cans (soda) and didn’t recycle them. A couple of employees, including myself even offered to recycle them for them, and they refused.

There are two reasons I don’t understand why restaurants don’t recycle;

First off, it is very easy. With single stream it is not hard to train employees that aluminum, glass and plastic go in this container and food waste, etc. go in this one.

Secondly, after the city required haulers to have less recycled materials in their landfill loads, you would think they would put pressure on the restaurants to recycle.

I think the city’s sanitation department needs to work with haulers and restaurants to recycle more. While they are concerned about the appearance of private trash cans at city hall, they don’t seem to be too concerned about SF largest retail industry, hospitality not recycling.

Pedestrians, Bicyclists and motorists need to work together on making Sioux Falls a safer place

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While the Liberal in me agrees that motorists need to be the most safe when traveling our streets (due mostly to the weight of their vehicles) pedestrians and bicyclists also must use common sense.

A great example of this is the real world version of Frogger that occurs every morning by Lincoln High School on Cliff Avenue. Even after the city was kind enough to put a very visible traffic light and crosswalk in (that was needed) students still have not figured out how to use it. Even if they are simply 20 feet away from the cross, they still prefer to jump across five lanes of traffic.

I don’t want to get into a long debate about how some teenagers are pretty ignorant (it’s all those racing hormones.) But I do want to say one thing ‘USE THE FREAKING CROSSWALK – THAT IS WHY IT WAS INSTALLED!’

I think the School District needs to have an ‘education’ program with the students of Lincoln High school about using crosswalks, I would also suggest a plain clothes officer hands out jaywalking tickets every morning for about a week. We might be able to help subsidize the Events Center operations cost with the revenue.

What Indoor Tennis Facility?

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The New ‘Anonymous Indoor Tennis Facility (that the Huether Family may or may not have given money to)

Has our mayor suddenly had a change of heart about putting his name on the Indoor Tennis Facility? Has he realized that putting his name on a facility that received over $500K in public funds might be a tad unethical, or at least a little tacky and pretty classless for a sitting mayor?

Maybe.

During the interview with one of the facility’s board members on Inside Stormland TV, Angela asked him what was going on with the place. I noticed a few weeks back that the foundation had already been laid, and the steel frame is up, but I didn’t remember a groundbreaking. Certainly Mr. Golden shovel in his hands at all times would have made a big deal out of a groundbreaking. Well there hasn’t been one yet (scheduled for Tuesday – a day after the EC lighting ceremony).

What I found strange was, he had a groundbreaking for the Spellerberg pool before the old one even got torn out, yet has waited to have a groundbreaking on the tennis facility until after construction has already started, the same week all the EC baloney is going on.

But what was even more interesting about the interview was when Angela asked about naming rights, to which they responded, “The Huether family is the sponsor, but they are unsure of what they are going to name it.” (paraphrasing)

Yeah, right.

Not sure what they are going to name it either, but I’m pretty sure it will start with an ‘H’.

Code Enforcement out of control

[youtube]https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=nHnCdK0ACJQ[/youtube]

I have suggested recently to a city councilor that complaints should be filed on a form at the code enforcement office or an online form. You must write the violation you think exists, YOUR NAME, address and phone number. I think the ANON complaint system leaves room for abuse and harrassment and it is unconstitutional to have an ANON witness. If someone chooses to appeal a code violation, the complaintant should have to appear at that appeal hearing as a witness to the alleged violation.

When speaking to a councilor about it, I compared it to being a witness to a car accident. There is a good possibility that you would have to appear in court.

Enough of the anon tattle-tale system. Put your big boy pants on, and own up.