Sioux Falls Parks and Rec

The ‘truth’ about SF Family Park revealed

l3wis April 13, 2009 0Comments

Some ‘details’ about the proposed Family Park are being uncovered in this Gargoyle Leader story. Stuff that we suspected all along. What is strange about the story, is how it starts, assuming the city council has already approved the gift from the Soukup family. This is not the case (even though it does have the support of at least 7 councilors);

A new park being developed in western Sioux Falls will be unique to the region by offering trout fishing, city and state officials say.

Eventually, that area could be the site of a residential development, complete with a lake and 100 to 150 houses. That’s at least five years into the future, Soukup said.

Chip Kolb of Tall Prairie Properties owns the land to the immediate east of what will be Family Park.

 

“I was thinking apartments along the lake,” Kolb said of his development, which he categorized as in its early stages.

So Sioux Falls taxpayers will have to pay for the maintenance of a park so homeowners and apartment dwellers have lakeside property? How much access will the rest of us have to the park if it is surrounded by apartments and houses? I’m not against accepting the gift, but I think the developers and the city should be in a 50/50 partnership for the maintenance of the park. Once again, this suspiciously looks like developers are getting a gigantic handout from taxpayers. Not only are they taking the massive chunk of land off the taxrolls, the developers will be building homes on prime property that will be maintained by the rest of us working stiffs instead of a housing association.

There is something very fishy smelling about this whole deal.

Project TRIM should be called Project CRAP

l3wis March 6, 2009 0Comments

Next Thursday the city is holding a public meeting at the community center by Harvey Dunn elementary (still need to get deets on time and locale) about project TRIM, so the public can ‘Ask Questions’. Word on the street is that not too many questions will be asked, in fact it will be a gigantic bitch session. People in my district who were targeted by the ‘blanket’ code enforcement are not happy. Several called SF Parks and Rec and asked what trees were in violation, and the response was, “We don’t have the manpower to determine that.” I guess $31 million a year funding their department isn’t enough money to staff enough people to provide proper customer service.

This is total crap! It is an attempt to go after creating problems and fines where they don’t exist, I also heard this blanket enforcement was lobbied by tree trimming companies in town. Apparently they were driving around town and telling the city about ‘problem neighborhoods’. I can’t prove this, but that is the rumor and would not surprise me. The economy is down and contractors are looking for work. In fact the Parks director said at the info meeting the other day that he did not want to delay bids at McKennan Park for the new John because contractors are ‘hungry’ for work.

I hope to make it to next week’s meeting – should be fun.