No regular meetings this next week, but some interesting tidbits.
Joint Minnehaha County/SF City Council meeting • 4 PM (11/27)
This one is at the County Commission Chambers in the Administration Building.
Another study by Augustana on Homeless peeps. Why do homeless studies cost so much? What? No qualified volunteers?
DOC:Â Homeless-Study
Breakfast Club • 7:30 AM (11/28)
What an interesting topic to cover over juice and donuts;
I sent this email to Mayor Paul TenHaken and the Sioux Falls City Council tonight. Hopefully I will get an answer to my question about planning and transparency;
Dear Councilors & Mayor,
I have some concerns with how fast we are pushing the new 5G rules and regulations for Sioux Falls.
First, to the health concerns. I have done some of my own research on this and it seems the ‘jury is out’. While there doesn’t seem to be any short term harmful effects to humans because of the powerful microwaves emitted from 5G antennas, there simply hasn’t been enough long term studies done on it. Now, I’m not saying they are unsafe, but would like to see our local government be very cautious on how close they are placed to dense office, schools, parks and residential areas.
Besides the health impact to the community, there is also a visual impact of these devices. Will they be hidden enough to just blend into their environment or will they stick out like a sore thumb?
I guess my biggest concern is that it seems all these sudden rules, regulations and permitting fees and licensing have been decided behind closed doors with the help of some very powerful people in Washington. I hope this is NOT the case.
I’m wondering if any public meetings were held to get feedback from the community? I am wondering if the public will have a chance to weigh in? I’m also wondering how much my city council and even school board and county commissions got to weigh in on these new rules?
We were promised transparency by the new council, the current sitting council and mayor during the election, I’m hoping moving forward with 5G we will have full openness and transparency, I don’t want to see Sioux Falls residents turned into lab rats for powerful Washington lobbyists and industry. I think 5G is an amazing opportunity for Sioux Falls, if done right.
Please assure me that I’m not being treated like a rat.
Scott L. Ehrisman
Sioux Falls, SD
When the state legislature was arguing to increase teacher pay from last place with a half-penny sales tax increase, I argued at the time ‘What about the rest of us?’ Especially other professionals in the state, like nurses;
According to the American Nurses Association, South Dakota’s registered nurses have the lowest annual salary of any state and the District of Columbia, ranking 51st behind Mississippi, Alabama and Iowa.
The association reports that South Dakota’s 12,530 registered nurses received an average annual salary of $57,010, or $27.41 per hour in 2017. California’s RNs posted the highest compensation at $102,700, $49.37 per hour.
Health care officials say many factors contribute to South Dakota’s comparatively poor compensation levels for nursing, including the rural nature of the state, as well as low reimbursement rates to hospitals from Medicare, Medicaid and Indian Health Services.
I would agree Medicare/Medicaid expansion probably would help. But I have argued for years that if we want to increase teacher pay, we should concentrate on raising EVERYONES PAY! I have had several friends leave the state who work in the healthcare industry for the same reason, PAY. In fact two of my friends that are RNs literally DOUBLED their pay overnight by leaving the state. Think about that. DOUBLED! They also told me the same stories about the healthcare industry in Sioux Falls, where pay is top heavy and run amuck with corruption and greed. They also said, when it comes to nursing pay between the two major hospitals, there is obvious wage collusion going on. One of my friends who worked at both systems before she left for greener pastures said to me, “Don’t you think it is a little strange that both hospital’s nursing pay is IDENTICAL?” Yeah, things that make you go hmmmm.
But I don’t want to make this about nursing alone, many professionals in our state are below average when compared to other states. So when I hear our teachers need more pay, I would agree, but in reality your pay is reflective of what the rest of us are making.
So why has it taken so long for a news agency to cover this story? I think we know the answer to that question.
During planning preview, the Planning Department revealed that Celebrate Church will be moving forward with plans to expand on the former school for the deaf property.
It will be interesting to see the terms of the lease and agreement.
So there has been this guy showing up to Sioux Falls city council meeting protesting the 5G network proposed in Sioux Falls because as he claims the microwaves coming from the units would be like sticking your head in a microwave.
So I decided to go down that rabbit hole and research 5G online Tuesday night. Once I sorted through all the conspiracy sites I did find several ‘legitimate’ stories about the equipment. The LA Times had an article from 2016 which pretty much determined that high levels of exposure to adult male rats caused tumors, but it seems the jury is still out because no one knows the long term affects on humans.
One thing that none of the stories deny is that the equipment is powerful and a lot lower to the ground than normal cell phone tower antennas. Could this affect one’s health? The possibility is certainly there.
The city is moving fast and furious on new regulations for the new 5G antennas (I guess public meetings on this were not considered or noticed very well);
More than 20 locations on public land across Sioux Falls are being targeted by wireless providers as future 5G cell tower sites, according to City Hall.
That has city officials working to establish a licensing process that would allow Verizon Wireless and other telecommunication companies to begin installing fifth generation micro-towers on city light poles, water towers and buildings as early as next year.
“Once the master license agreement is approved by the City Council via ordinance, this would allow staff to administratively approve those applications,” Parks Director Don Kearney said while addressing the Sioux Falls Parks and Recreation Board, which got a peak at the proposal Tuesday due to the expectation that light poles in parks will be candidates to house 5G towers.
Under the proposed licensing system, unveiled this week by the Sioux Falls Power and Light Division, companies seeking to equip cell towers onto light poles or other publicly owned facilities would be required to pay a $500 application fee. At that time, staff would have 60 days to determine whether the targeted site is a suitable location. If approved, the applicant would pay an additional $25 for a permit, and then a yearly renewal fee of $175.
“We can either approve the application, deny the application or approve the application with conditions,” Kearney said.
After doing my own research, I am certainly NOT opposed to putting ‘some’ antennas up in the city, but I would be extremely cautious about putting them very close to residential or dense office building areas. I also think that licensing fees should be a lot higher, especially to start with, to see how they work and if there is any long term health affects.
But it seems like most everything in Sioux Falls and South Dakota, big business gets what they want while the peasants have to scrape and scratch to stop it.
l3wis