2014

UPDATE: Lien on Me

UPDATE: As we have suspected all along at DaCola, the city and Mortenson forced the crappy siding job. Steve Young (BTW, Great Reporting) got Dalsin to spill the beans.

These were my theories;

1) Koch Hazard actually designed a paneling system that was workable, and Dalsin agreed to apply it.

TRUE. As I was digging through some of the first drawings of the EC, I noticed the panels were hexagonal in nature. These were the designs that were supposed to be used, but Mortenson and the city rejected them to SAVE money;

But Kuik and Dalsin dispute the claim that their company is responsible for designing, specifying and installing the metal panels on the west side of the center that appear to be bulging, creating a rippling effect on the curved face of the building.

Kuik said a mockup of the wall that was fabricated in Dalsin’s yard at Mortenson’s request showed what he called “deflection in the end swedge panel joints of the flush panels.”

Everybody looked at and saw that deflection issue, Kuik said, including city public works director Mark Cotter, as well as the Koch Hazard Architects design team and Mortenson officials.

Cotter has said in the past that the bulging panels were not something he saw in the mockup. Kuik apparently disagrees.

That mockup was built to replicate the design and curve of the west side facing Western Avenue, Kuik said, though he reiterated that his company was not involved in the design or specifications for the wall. In fact, he noted that a preliminary design by Koch Hazard called for an insulated composite metal wall panel, but that it was scrapped for a corrugated and flush metal panel that came in $3 million cheaper.

 

Hazard designed it correctly. Dalsin agreed to go with that design, then the city and Mortenson came in and said, Notta-Collata.

Make no mistake, just because Cotter is 3rd in charge in the city, doesn’t mean he makes these kind of decisions on his own. Think about it kids, think about it.

Here is Dalsin’s press release that goes into more detail (DSPC West Radius Metal Wall Panel Information)

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We once again get to see our intrepid City Attorney David Fiddle-Faddle dance. This time around the M.J. Dalsin lien during Tuesday December 9, 2014 City Council Informational. He really fancies himself to be a smooth mover.

Kermit Staggers asked him several straight up questions and Fiddle-Faddle gave several left and right answers. If you remember one of our earlier videos, David told us how experienced and successful he was in these types of issues ( check it out here: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Bo-R4… ).

If you build a house you can’t move in until the building inspectors give you an occupancy permit. If you build a building for your business, you can’t use it until the building inspectors give you an occupancy permit. In Sioux Falls recently, the building inspectors did not show up before the scheduled opening of a business and it almost had to postpone the grand opening.

If you moved into your house without one, Fiddle Faddle and crew would issue a Notice to Abate, tag your door, take you to jail or other “official” documents to force you out.

What about the Sanford Event Center? There has been no occupancy permit made public. Why is this? Consider this, if the inspector issues an occupancy permit to an unfinished building and something happens, the inspector who signed it could be brought up on murder charges. This has happened in many other cities. Look it up, it is interesting.

Why does the city operate a building with thousands of people inside with different rules than we citizens have to follow? If something happens in the building or on the grounds, would the building’s insurance company cover the losses?

Who or what is the city and its officials hiding from us. You will love Fiddle Faddle’s claims of transparency, HA!

We just want answers and M.J. Dalsin just wants their money.

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

Councilor Erpenbach grasping at straws over snowgates

Like the Drake Springs pool vote, it seems some on the city council just can’t stand the fact that citizens passed snow gates. Like Drake Springs*, they need to get over it and move on. Like I told a person yesterday, I didn’t vote for the Events Center, but the citizens said they wanted it, so it is what it is, all I can do now is make sure the facility is ran properly, and the councilors should do the same about snow gates. Huber put on a great presentation that was factual, positive and forthright, and all Rolfing and Erpenbach did was grasp at straws about snow gates usefulness. Michelle even went as far as saying it might potentially affect real estate values. She mentioned that people on the end of the block may not get as good of service as people in the middle, and somehow in her crazy reasoning, this would affect home prices on corner lots. (Actual Presentation, starts at 1:04)

WOW. Michelle has said some pretty ridiculous things, but this takes the cake. It also shows how little she knows about real estate and should concern us that she is voting on affordable housing issues and planning and zoning.

First thing I was told when I was looking for my first home, “Don’t buy a corner lot.” They are notorious for more sidewalk to scoop, more yard to mow, more trees to trim, and you are responsible for scooping the sidewalk ends. Some people like corner lots, but they are known for more maintenance, this isn’t some real estate secret, and certainly, snowgates are not going to change these facts.

Michelle and Rex need to accept the vote of the people, and move on, snow gates are a part of city ordinance passed by the citizenry by over 70% of the vote. Stop crying about them.

*Actually, ironically, it is good thing citizens voted for an outdoor pool at Nelson Park, since the Aquatics Consultant the city hired said due to groundwater issues at the park, an indoor pool at that location would have had maintenance issues.

The war on pot is costing us

Not only in tax dollars for prosecution and incarceration, but in lives.

This latest case of just one drug robbery gone bad (over marijuana) has produced this;

  • Prosecution of 3 conspiritors and a murderer
  • One person dead, another injured
  • Probably over a million dollars in prosecution costs and incarceration

This was ONE incident over the greed and hysteria caused by people dealing weed. Heck, we even had a shoot-out in the streets of Sioux Falls over people stealing weed from each other, which could have resulted in more people dead, including police officers. It is going on across the country, and other states are realizing the war just isn’t worth it anymore, and are seizing a tax revenue source in the process instead more costs in prosecution to taxpayers. In fact, one little town in Colorado has experienced a monthly sales tax increase of $44,000 a month and are using the windfall to fix their streets instead of building bigger jails and courtrooms.

While I support medical marijuana legalization in South Dakota, I encourage the petitioners to go whole hog instead, and support a measure that also legalizes recreational usage. I actually believe such a measure would get more support than just medical (it has failed twice on the ballot in SD).

I’ve seen many lives ruined because of marijuana, a (natural) drug that has been proven to be much less harmful then alcohol (a narcotic) and could be sold legally to create a tax revenue source for counties struggling with tight budgets when it comes to legal services.

Lives ruined because of the insatiable desire to make felons out of people who smoke a plant.

There are also other benefits besides medical and homeopathic. It is also an incredible agriculture product that can be grown in its NON-THC form, Hemp, to be used in clothing, essential oils and can even be burned producing as much energy heat as coal. The uses are endless.

I have often believed that cannabis is a true gift from God that we have bastardized because of the greed of our prison systems and the pharmaceutical industry. This pointless greed has hit home, and we must use the Lebeau incident as a lesson in how we can take something bad like botched drug deals, and turn them into a positive, to help the sick, the state coffers and the agriculture industry. Let’s pull our heads out of the sand in this country and state and use this amazing gift to our benefit.

Monty’s out, Whitney is in

portrait

As everyone has already heard, David Montgomery is going on to greener pastures. No surprise, this guy has skyrocketed up the ladder of political journalism in our state very quickly. I’m sure when the Argus told him he had to reapply for his job, he said, “Sure” without telling them he would also be applying to several other newspapers, that actually appreciate their employees by not putting them through some convoluted layoff process.

Good Luck David!

PS- I know you liked ‘Touch of Europe’, so may I suggest ‘Moscow on the Hill’ in St. Paul, wonderful borscht and of course the wall of vodka.

But David leaving wasn’t the only big journalist story over at 10th & Minnesota. In some strange decision, management has decided to make their sports writer the city beat reporter. When I first read his column yesterday I thought it was a satire piece. I guess not.

Mr. Whitney hasn’t been shy about having his head up the mayor’s butt when it came to the Events Center, so I suspect we won’t have really much of any investigative reporting when it comes to city hall, but I will be looking forward to reading Stu’s comedy city column twice a week.

And for the record, South DaCola attempted some restructuring, but I was unable to lay myself off. Sorry Mike. It just pays so well, I had to keep at it.