Public Works

Public Utilities Public Works Road Funding SF City Council Sioux Falls

Ignore the crappy roads, they will always be crappy

l3wis June 22, 2016 2Comments

At the Sioux Falls city council informational meeting yesterday we had a presentation about the conditions of our roads in Sioux Falls from a consultant who studied them last year. They put in a rating system on the roads.

After Councilor Stehly asked why we will not be putting more focus on the worst of the worst streets, Mark Cotter explained that we must focus on the fair streets more to keep them resurfaced before they get bad. Which I am in partial agreement. He concluded that it cost 8x more to replace a bad street then to just resurface. Stehly argued that we should be doing more to fix the bad streets.

Of course the naysayers came out in full force. First they complained the money wasn’t there, than in classic â€˜make stuff up Michelle’, Erpenbach basically claimed we were driving on streets of gold.

I will agree with her partially. Anybody visiting our community will see our arterials and main routes are in very good shape, our residential streets in Sioux Falls central and proper, not so much.

I encourage anyone to either drive, or better yet take a bike ride starting at Nick’s Gyros on 41^st street and zig zag through the neighborhoods towards 14^th and Minnesota. Some of the roads are in such bad shape there are weeds growing in the center cracks. They are so bad, you can tell they are not only in need of replacement, but full curb and gutter, sidewalks, drainage and probably pipe upgrades, that is why the city is scared the death of opening that can of worms. They are willing to let the central part of our community suffer (where they are building a brand new swimming pool) in the name of urban sprawl.

Erpenbach goes on to say that roads become an issue in the Spring because of potholes, but no one talks about it any other time. Huey. This coming from a councilor who hasn’t talked to a constituent since she was elected. People complain about our roads 24/7, 365 days out of the year. It’s not just during campaign season.

So how can we fix the really bad roads while maintaining our urban sprawl? I have suggested a 1-2 year moratorium on quality of life projects, (faÃ§ade) maintenance on entertainment facilities, flat line the parks budget, subsidizing non-essential non-profits, etc. I bet we could easily squeeze out an extra $20-30 million dollars for streets (you know, the original intention of the CIP to begin with).

This would of course take planning and courage, something that is in short supply at city hall these days.

Property Taxes Public Utilities Public Works SF City Council Sioux Falls Taxes

Busted! City’s intermingling of CIP and Enterprise fund money

l3wis June 20, 2016 1Comments

Remember only a few short months ago before the city election when the Public Works department and Mayor’s office were in maximum B.S. mode? I know, hard to keep track.

We were essentially told that water rates had to increase because they were a separateÂ ‘enterprise fund’ and the fees you pay towards water and sewer went directly towards fixing water and sewer. They also told us in that same breath that ‘they could’ use CIP money (2nd penny) for upgrades to water and sewer, but didn’t because of the enterprise fund.

Now comes along Item #55 in the Sioux Falls City council agenda for Tuesday night (click on item then click on the PDF in the upper right corner). Seems the Water department and the Streets department are having a regular old poker game with our money, and chips are going all over the place. So how is it we can give road money to the Water department and Water money to the roads? I thought they came out of separate funds?

Once again more hyperbole fed to us before an election. At least we didn’t end up with another $180 million dollar white elephant this time.

Public Works Sioux Falls

Tree Trim Talk

l3wis June 12, 2016 0Comments

[youtube]https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Bo3BBohrtXg[/youtube]

Published on Jun 12, 2016

Cut them all down and we would never have to hear about them again. No more crimes against the state, city or God. Punish the trees and all who sit under them to cool off during a hot summer day! But then again, if we allow trees to grow our code enforcement officers have a way to control the unwashed masses who try to own property.

A bit extreme? Yea, but when you watch the masters of city control demand we trim nonexistent tree branches or face punishment by the fines we get a bit upset. The Sioux Falls and Brandon City Councils get together several times a year to learn from each other. On June 8, 2016 was another of those dinner meetings and Cameraman Bruce tagged along with you guessed it, his camera. No Rex-Tex Golfing there trying to break the camera, only a lively open discussion of several topics of interest.

Operation Trim is a poorly conceived and executed program designed to abuse citizens. It is a program designed to force the population of Sioux Falls to do the work the city should be doing. The trees in the street-side right of way are the property of the city of Sioux Falls, lock, stock and barrel. Through the years property owners are forced to buy, plant and nurture the trees to create the small town image. Granted we like the image but we have also learned a great deal about the downsides of right of way trees.

The city of Brandon has become very progressive and less regressive in the life of trees. Sioux Falls should stop and examine how stupid our Operation Trim is. This is our second time hearing about the program from Brandon Council members and maybe the city should consider their methods.

Public Works Sioux Falls

A tour of the Sioux Falls Water Reclamation Plant (Sewer treatment)

l3wis June 11, 2016 1Comments

[youtube]https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=-1BzDIe6_zs[/youtube]

We are always looking for open meetings to attend with our cameras. Sometimes we are assaulted verbally and sometimes criminally hit just because we show up and ask questions. So it was nice to show up and be greeted so warmly on June 8, 2016 at of all places the Sioux Falls Waste Management Plant (A.K.A. the sewer department).

Brandon and Sioux Falls Joint City Council meetings are always interesting. A trip to look at our waste management plant is right up there.

The Marks and Trent did a great job showing the six city council members just about everything they could at the plant. This video is being presented raw so everyone can see how polite and respectful Mark Cotter’s staff was even to Cameraman Bruce during the tour.

If our town’s chief marketing officer and the rest of his staff was as open and straightforward with us, we might actually consider what they tell us has some truth. As long as Tracy, Kendra and the others are allowed to throw crying sissy hissy fits as they run from the rooms when we show up, we will never believe anything they propose.

When the administration beats their points in with fancy PowerPoint propaganda or with wild tennis elbows we will never believe them or should you. Our new city council members are doing their research the right way, it is hard to do but with their efforts we may finally be getting some controls in place.

Detroit’s note; I was very impressed by the staff’s presentation. I learned a lot about how solid waste is toggled before it is released. I also found the ‘free fertilizer’ proposal useful. Stay tuned, Bruce and I will be visiting another facility the city has a partnership with later this month. I promise it won’t be about poop.

Public Works SF City Council Sioux Falls