I was glad to hear PTH talk about dedicating more money to roads and infrastructure. In the case of the water department and reclamation, we really have no choice. As for roads, the 2nd penny is SUPPOSED to be mostly dedicated to these kind of projects, but we have gone off the rails a bit over the past 16 years building play palaces.

When it comes to streets, what I would really like to see is more money being dedicated to engineering the streets better. The city needs to partner with local contractors to build better roads by investing in research and development. Instead of sending our Public Works director to a 3rd world country to teach people about Jesus and running water, we need to be sending him to Europe to learn how they build stronger, better roads. We also need to start making contractors warranty their work. Will this make our roads cost more? Yes, but the payoff is that they will last longer. I have often joked that our pothole hotline should be called as much as the Maytag repairman, this happens by building roads that don’t crumble every Spring when we have a slight temperature change.

While I appreciate the bigger investment in roads (even though it is what the money is really supposed to be used for) I would like to see more innovation building those roads. Wouldn’t it be great if the city became the leader in the Midwest for building rock solid infrastructure and roads. Wouldn’t it be great if people visiting our city talked about our modern euro-style roads instead of our money sucking Events Center?

I would also like to give a thumbs up to whoever decided to finally fix the roller coaster ride on Cliff Avenue in front of Avera last week. It only took them about 5 days to fix something that has been horrible for around 3 years. The only other question I have is ‘What took so long?’

I guess I have never filled potholes before, so I don’t know how long it takes but;

City of Sioux Falls Street Operations Manager Dustin Hansen tells KELOLAND News city crews have filled more than 2,300 potholes since March 1.

Hansen says that there are “about five to six crews out” every day right now.

So lets do the math, 2,300 potholes in 20 days = 115 day. 5 crews at 8 hours a day = 40 hours a day.

That equals filling 2.875 potholes an hour.

Like I said, I’m no expert, but I’m not sure if I would be bragging about those kind of results.

I actually think the Sioux Falls city council has the power to put a policy into place to create a contingency fund to help citizens and visitors pay for damages endured to vehicles due to the pothole crisis.

So what would this look like and how would it work? I’m not a legal beagle so this is my BASIC recommendation.

The fund could easily be created/estimated by doing a survey of mechanic shops over the past couple of weeks. For estimation sake let’s say it is 1,000 vehicles with an approximate damage rate of $200. The fund could be set at $2 Million and could easily come from reserves. Current city reserves are around $52 million (end of 2018).

How would you stake a claim? The easiest way would be thru a 3.21 notice that would be sent directly to the mayor’s office (which is turned over the city attorney). This form basically says that you were harmed by the city.

FORM: SDCL3.21 Notice of Claim

**SEE BELOW WITH INSTRUCTIONS ON HOW TO FILL OUT THIS FORM

You would have to have a window of time that pothole damages could be reported. With a 3.21 notice that is typically 6 months.

There would also have to be a ‘window’ of when the damages happened. For argument’s sake let’s say February 1, 2019 – April 30, 2019 (or whenever the policy is put into the place by the council).

All receipts of work would have to have a legitimate time stamp or date on them, or would be subject to being thrown out.

Who would review the receipts? An employee board would have to be formed from different departments to review the receipts and determine if the work is ACTUALLY from pothole damage. For example if you had a bill for tire repair, oil change and replacing a windshield wiper, you would only be reimbursed for the tire repair. There would also have to be an open appeal process if you feel you were not compensated correctly.

Like I said, this could all easily be done by the policy makers (the city council) and would go a long way in rebuilding trust with citizens who have endured damages. The city council could choose to do nothing and let the mayor’s office handle the legal fiasco and ramifications, but if they get a head of this and put a fair process in place, this could go a lot smoother, unlike our roads.

UPDATE: Omaha has agreed to pay for pothole damages, full story HERE.

**UPDATE II: Many government entities have special processes which must be followed prior to suing them for damages. These processes are ostensibly created for other reasons but almost always have the effect of creating complex hoops which must be jumped through prior to making a financial claim for damages against them or suing them. You lose if you don’t jump through one of the special hoops. Many of the processes also shorten the statute of limitations which would normally apply. South Dakota has such a process and it is embodied in Chapter SDCL 3-21.

You must provide written notice to certain individuals (SDCL 3-21-x) and you must do so within 180 days of the incident event per SDCL 3-21-x. The actual South Dakota Notice of Claim law is at this link https://sdlegislature.gov/statutes/Codified_laws/DisplayStatute.aspx?Statute=3-21&Type=Statute .

When providing notice of damages, it is always a good business practice to be as specific as possible regarding the location, the time, the date, the persons involved and what happened.

Remember also, like most governments, the South Dakota executive, legislative and judicial branches agree that they should be allowed to lie to you without consequence but that it should be unlawful for you to lie to them. In other words, be as short and very clear with your facts. You do not need to give all detail in this form but do not stretch the truth. Be prepared to supply photos, invoices, medical claims and other information supporting your position.

This form was created by examining several forms filed with the City and using the language. The form provided is a downloadable, fillable Adobe type PDF document. When opened in an Adobe type Reader program you can type in your information. By filling out the form, two copies will be created. Sign both copies and save one for your records.

You may desire to mail the notice using a method that documents the delivery of the notice to protect yourself from a later claim you did not mail the notice. A signed witness statement to the delivery to the mayor’s office or USPS certified mail to the mayor.

There are potentially severe consequences for not providing the required notice correctly. If you have any questions you should contact an attorney.

CLICK TO ENLARGE THUMBNAIL OF WHAT THE FORM LOOKS LIKE, TO FILL OUT THE FORM CLICK ON THE PDF LINK IN THE BEGINNING OF THIS POST, SAVE TO YOUR DESKTOP.

A foot soldier decided to do some ‘Propaganda Math’ when it comes to potholes, and it is interesting, this is what they sent me;

Paul TenHaken FB page as of Monday March 18, 7:34am:

“With the flooding beginning to subside, we are now dealing with the increased washout on roads that have already experience a very tough winter. As a result, we are taking an all hands on deck approach.”

◾️Monday through Friday from 8 a.m. to 4 p.m.: Public Works will have a minimum of six crews addressing potholes.

◾️Monday through Friday from 4 p.m. to midnight and from midnight to 8 a.m.: Public Works will have a minimum of one crew addressing potholes in high-traffic volume areas.

◾️Saturday and Sunday from 8 a.m. to 4 p.m.: Public Works will have a minimum of three crews addressing potholes.”


City Council Meeting Tuesday March 19/19 Mark Cotter testimony:

“We are running 6 crews M-F, 3 crews on the weekend, one at night.” 


City of Sioux Falls Facebook page as of Friday 3/22/19, 10:42am (this information was time stamped as being posted 16 hrs. prior to 3/22/19 10:42am. . . . so these stats apparently reflect pothole repair progress M-Th, March 3/18 – March 3/21 approximately 6pm):

We have cleared 413 potholes this week so far. We have four crews out every day 8 a.m. to 4 p.m. and one crew out 4 p.m. to midnight. We will have four crews out this weekend as well working from 8 a.m. to 4 p.m.”



In terms of quantifying the pothole repair process, one variable missing in these three repair crew schedule announcements is the number of men on each crew. And, there are some inconsistencies in the specifics:

a) Mayor TenHaken’s info from Monday 3/18, claims SIX daytime crews M-F, TWO night crews M-F, THREE daytime crews Sat/Sun.

b) Cotter info from Tuesday 3/19, claims SIX daytime crews M-F, ONE [not two] night crew M-F, THREE daytime crews Sat/Sun.

c) siouxfalls.org from Friday 3/22, claims FOUR [not six] daytime crews M-F, ONE [not two] night crew M-F, FOUR [not three] daytime crews Sat/Sun.

Ok. All that now having been itemized, Public Works is allowed to modify the pothole repair crew assignments over time, or as conditions change/improve, or as impending flood priorities may change. These figures do claim that an additional crew has been added Sat/Sun over first two reports, so that’s a positive. Therefore, these inconsistent reports may be a moot point. However, in attempting to quantify the rate of progress the siouxfalls.org data shares, I’m uncertain what the most accurate math would be to quantify the progress in terms of potholes fixed per day or per hour. One equation I came up with from the siouxfalls.org 3/22 stats is:

A) [4] daytime crews x 8 hrs/day = 32 crew hrs/day

B) [1] evening crew x 8 hrs/day = 8 crew hrs/day

C) Subtotal: 32 + 8                    = 40 crew hrs/day

D) [4] days {M-Th} x 40 crew hrs/day = 160 total crew hours work for Mon-Thurs.

E) 412 repaired potholes ÷ 160 crew hrs = 2.575 potholes fixed per crew hour? If legit, seems like slow progress.

DL: Either this means pothole stop sites (and not actual potholes) or there is a heckuva a lot of miscommunication going on.