Entries Tagged 'Sioux Falls Parks and Rec' ↓

I just about fell out of my chair when a city official sent me this;

Aquatic Subsidies for 2019

Total $2,335,028

Indoor $794,913   34% of the subsidy

Outdoor $1,540,115   66% of the subsidy

*2019 financials are not final until after the Audit is completed.

We were originally told that the yearly subsidy for the MAC would be around $400K, it is almost double that. We were also told that it would be so popular that that subsidy would possibly get smaller the longer it was open. Not the case. Just imagine if the Sanford Sports Complex opens an indoor pool, than what will happen? I said before it opened that it was in the wrong location, it didn’t include other stuff like a fitness area, it was too small and didn’t have enough space for expansion. It also has a lot of private competition. As predicted, the MAC will be a yolk around the taxpayers necks for years to come.

Man, can you say ‘Overkill’. You would think they were building a multi-million dollar Bunker Ramp to support a mega-story hotel.

LINK TO FULL REPORT AND PHOTOS.

I had to laugh today as I cruised by the Spencer Dog Park, The Sioux Falls Headliner predicted this back in May. I have often felt this was one of the dumbest places to put this park. It’s central location is OK, but this area has flooded almost every year since it has been there. It’s almost like the Parks department wanted to put it there so they have something to cleanup after.

I asked a city official yesterday why it takes over a week to post the minutes and video of the Parks Board meetings. We were promised more transparency of the meetings by recording not only audio but visual, yet it takes over a week to post it. What is even more troubling is that it takes that long to produce minutes from the meeting. Why?

Maybe the person in charge of the minutes is also in charge of the NO MOW list and they have conveniently lost them, until they conveniently found them. I suspect they will magically show up by the end of the day.

I first want to say that Nancy Halverson and crew knocked it out of the park. I think only 2 concerts had to be completely cancelled, and a couple, including Friday night’s show had to end early due to weather. We expected that.

While they planned on 30 concerts this year, they plan to have 50 next year, I’m excited about it.

Here are some changes I would like to see made next year to make Levitt even better;

• Allowing people to bring their own beer or wine. I think it should be limited to that and NOT liquor. I also think that if people bring their own, they should have to get an ID badge. While JJ’s did a fine job, I think the city council could change the very simple ordinance that says Falls Park West (where the Levitt resides) to allow this. It really is as simple as an ordinance change.

• Put in permanent bike racks. I think they could be easily be put in along the sidewalk on the West side of the restroom. I do know that FAB is working with the city to do something better and I appreciate it.

• Plant more shade trees around the grounds. I also think that they should get a sponsor to put an awning coming off the restroom to the East.

• Take down bag search signs. You can’t search people’s bags without a warrant of probable cause. Maybe a sign that says “Suspicious bags subject to search.”

• No pets allowed. This of course would require a city ordinance that basically says pets are not allowed to the Levitt grounds area. JazzFest has NOT allowed pets for years. It’s not good for their health and they don’t want to be there anyway.

• Have Friday and Saturday night concerts from 8-10 PM. It was disappointing to see a concert end at 9 PM right when the sun was going down. As I understand it noise ordinance is 11 PM.

• Move the restroom drinking fountains to the Eastside of the building. Those fountains sit in the sun ALL day long, I have never gotten a cold drink of water from them, at best tepid.

• Don’t bring a lawn chair if you don’t need to. This of course will be something people who are attending will have to do on their own. I never sat in a chair all season long and only sat on the ground a few times. Dance and enjoy yourself.

I think with some minor tweaks (I think Levitt will propose some of their own) the 2020 season will be fantastic.

Kory & the Fireflies played the last show of the season last night.

Here are the results to the Parks Survey: DOCUMENT

While we still really haven’t heard what caused the Elmwood golf shed to burn to the ground (even though there has been conflicting stories about a completed investigation) I have heard what the ‘possible’ cause could be.

Apparently there have been problems with the battery chargers overheating with the particular models that Elmwood was using. Sometimes it’s installation, sometimes it is just a bad charger. I guess on these carts the battery chargers are a separate unit that have to be manually attached to the battery to charge them (unlike an electric car, like a Tesla, that has an onboard charger). If an overheating occurs, it is most likely the CHARGER not the BATTERY.

It will be interesting to see ‘IF’ we ever get a straight answer on what caused the fire. I’m sure the final paperwork will be filed with the Parks ‘No Mow’ list and Councilor Neitzert’s text message meme’s of Stehly.

Before we get to the recommendations of animal health experts on the topic, I want to clarify, I love dogs. I had one for several years. I would take him on walks regularly and had a fenced in backyard for his outdoor enjoyment. Dogs make great companions and we love to show them off. Unfortunately I think that is the main reason why people bring them to outdoor concerts.

I wasn’t going to say anything about it until I came to a boiling point on Saturday. Two teenage girls decided to bring their very large, black, pit bull mix dog to the Levitt and sit directly in the sun. He was NOT a happy camper. He was visibly uncomfortable and panting at a very high rate. I politely asked them to first get him some water and take him home. I informed them that his high rate of panting was a sign of dehydration and heat exhaustion. They did move to the shade, and then I think they eventually left.

Besides this example, animal health experts have warned about bringing your dog to outdoor concerts for several ‘common sense’ reasons;

It’s Extremely Loud

Worst Place for Socialization

Your Dog Will Get Hurt

Food on the Ground

And as I mentioned above, depending on the weather, it can be extremely uncomfortable for them. While you may be very proud of your St. Charles you had to take a 2nd mortgage out to afford to buy him, in the future if you want to show them off to me, keep some cute pictures on your phone to show me, and let your dog relax at home while you enjoy the concert.

At the last Neighborhood Summit the previous mayor held (PTH has not held one yet) Mayoral candidate David Zokaites suggested that the bike trail be 24/7 and not close at 10 PM since it actually a commuter trail for many cyclists and NOT just recreational. The pushback from the city is they may not be able to parole it at night. Even with proper lighting on your bicycle it could still be dangerous to ride at night. I have suggested installing solar lighting in the darker areas to accommodate that. I know that the cycling community is starting to discuss this idea. I fully support making our bike trail 24/7 and many communities across the country have done it.

What do you think?

While this survey doesn’t ask for your name (unless you want to leave comments) it does ask for some pretty important information to complete the survey like address and zip code. It also asks for your gender, age, and RACE.

While there may be some importance in asking your age, your street address, gender and race should not matter.

I still wonder why the city thinks they need all this personal data when asking about our parks. While it does contain some good questions about how you use the parks (or don’t) I think the only real criteria should be ‘are you a Sioux Falls resident’.

I’m still waiting to hear back from the administration as to why they are using these surveys to data mine citizens. If it helps to get an answer, for the record, I’m white.