OPENPUBLICA · PUBLIC MEETING RECORD
Record of Proceedings

Aberdeen City Council Meeting - March 16, 2026

City Council — Monday, March 16, 2026
BodyAberdeen, South Dakota
SessionCity Council
DateMonday, March 16, 2026
StatusFILED
Video Record
0:00 / 43:44

Transcript — Verbatim
0:56

All right, let's call this being to order.

0:57

Jordan, would you start us off with a roll call?

1:00

Please respond by stating present.

1:02

Councilmember Ronane.

1:04

Private Foberg.

1:06

We belt present.

1:08

Ward.

1:08

Present.

1:09

Johnson present.

1:10

Econger.

1:11

President Nelson.

1:12

President.

1:12

Normstrap.

1:14

Mayor Shanneman.

1:15

Present.

1:15

Please stand with me for the Pledge of Allegiance.

1:38

All right.

1:38

Our first order business will be to approve this week's agenda as printed uh last week.

1:43

Move to approve.

1:45

Second.

1:45

Get a motion from Councilman E.

1:47

Conger and a second from Councilman Ward.

1:48

All in favor, please say aye.

1:50

Aye.

1:51

Aye.

1:52

Opposed nay.

1:53

That motion carries next approval of the minutes from the last meeting, which took place on March 2nd.

1:59

There was an amended payroll section that was not available at the time of the printing.

2:05

So we will amend those minutes to reflect that payroll pay period being an added.

2:10

Take a motion.

2:11

Move to approve as amended.

2:14

Second.

2:15

Got a motion from Councilman Johnson.

2:16

Second, Councilman Lee Belt, all in favor, please say aye.

2:20

Aye.

2:20

Aye.

2:20

Aye.

2:21

Opposed day.

2:23

All right.

2:23

The motion carries as well.

2:25

Next we've got uh speaker here for our open form.

2:27

It's a couple.

2:28

And just to start things off, they had reached out to me in advance, and I had sent an email around our city hall a little bit to try to get a better understanding of where things were at with this, but they have a bit of a sewer and a piping issue.

2:42

So if you guys would make your way up to that podium in the back and make sure that the little green light is on the base of that thing.

2:49

It should say push.

2:51

Um we'll give you a few minutes here.

2:53

You can go ahead and kind of explain um what your situation is, and we'd definitely, of course, like to help you out.

2:59

Uh, but we don't really respond to situations like this.

3:02

We will take notes and we'll um feed it through the proper channels, and we'll definitely be right back in touch with you.

3:08

So why don't you go ahead and introduce yourselves and kind of explain your situation?

3:12

Hello, my name is Brian Lloyd.

3:14

And I'm Kaylee Lloyd.

3:16

So our situation is that uh in our neighborhood we live in a spot where all of our sewer system goes into a manhole in our neighbor's yard to the north, all converges there and then it goes off to the city.

3:32

Well, for some reason, this mantle always gets plugged up, and we're always the first ones to get affected by this issue and get flooding in our basement and have a lot of damage.

3:44

And I have talked to Stu about this.

4:04

But we have we're pretty much wondering what we can do to rectify this manhole to the point where it stops destroying our house, and that without spending a buttload of money to rerun the um sewer system because we don't know who was supposed to maintain this manhole, even though it's on our north side, but I mean it's a collective bunch of people going into this one manhole then goes out to the city.

4:33

So our biggest thing is we want to know what we can do to rectify the situation because it seems like we're the ones that are affected first, and then if we don't get to it right away, then the other houses are, but they don't usually get it because we respond right away trying to clean it out because we want to preserve our basement.

4:53

And we have contacted sewer dog and poo fighters and stuff, and we have spent over eight grand.

5:03

And they've snaked the line, and 99% of the time they have told us that it is part of the city that our line is clear.

5:14

So I'm also wondering, you know, if they can reroute the piping or if there's something because our our basement floor is destroyed, our walls are destroyed, and honestly, that's taken all of our money.

Discussion Breakdown — Share of Meeting
Engineering And Infrastructure█████████████████████21%
Procedural████████████████████20%
Water And Wastewater Management█████████████████17%
Snow Removal Operations████████████████16%
Public Safety████████████12%
Legislation███████7%
Transportation Safety████4%
Fiscal Sustainability███3%
Summary of Proceedings

Aberdeen City Council Meeting - March 16, 2026

The Aberdeen City Council met on March 16, 2026, to address routine approvals, public concerns, and several new business items including ordinances on firearms, emergency ambulance replacement, infrastructure payments, and annexations. The meeting began with roll call, pledges, and approval of the agenda and minutes from March 2, 2026.

Consent Calendar

  • Approved the consent calendar items, including the lease of the municipal hangar (new bids to be issued for a five-year term starting July 1, 2026), payroll amendments, and other routine approvals. Councilmember Chad abstained on items 5F and 5G. The motion carried unanimously.

Public Comments & Testimony

  • Brian and Kaylee Lloyd spoke about a recurring sewer backup issue affecting their home. They reported spending over $8,000 on services like Sewer Dog and Poo Fighters, which indicated the problem lies with a shared private sewer line. They expressed financial hardship and requested city assistance to avoid further damage and a potential $25,000–$50,000 rerouting cost. The mayor and staff committed to reviewing the situation with Jeremy and following up.

Discussion Items

  • Final Adoption of Ordinance 260303 (Firearms): Approved after second reading. The ordinance allows waterfowl hunting within city limits under same restrictions as pheasant hunting, with a one-mile police enforcement jurisdiction for noise. One public comment raised concerns about wounded geese and enforcement, but the police chief confirmed capacity. Roll call vote: all aye.
  • Final Adoption of Ordinance 260304 (Air Guns and Hoax Weapons): Approved without further comment. Roll call vote: all aye.
  • Emergency Ambulance Remount: Approved to proceed with a $212,780 remount from Premier Specialty Vehicles (gas-powered chassis) to replace a damaged 2013 Ford F550 Horton ambulance, funded through general fund contingency, reserves, and spending reductions. The fleet was reduced to four ambulances after a February 18 collision. A loaner ambulance will be provided after 90 days. Roll call vote: all aye.
  • Wastewater Reclamation Facility (WRF) Improvements Pay Request: Approved pay request of $1,421,539.52 to PKG Contracting for ongoing work including biofilter demolition, aeration basin concrete, and splitter box pours. Councilmember Nilson abstained. Motion carried.
  • Purchase of 2026 Ford Explorer: Approved for $43,661 (state bid) to replace a 2007 Dodge Durango for personnel transport and pretreatment sampling. Roll call vote: all aye.
  • Voluntary Annexation (2801 13th Ave SE): Approved to annex approximately 11 acres plus 2.3 acres of right-of-way, zoned agricultural to be rezoned R2 medium-density residential. Roll call vote: all aye.
  • Voluntary Annexation (1020 Melgard Road South): Approved to annex approximately 40.5 acres for future residential development, similarly rezoned. Roll call vote: all aye.
  • SD DOT Bridge Rehabilitation Agreements: Approved agreements for overlay work on the Second Street overpass bridge decks. Funding and timeline: late 2026 to early 2027 construction season; traffic likely reduced to two lanes. Roll call vote: all aye.
  • Airport Payments (Three Items): Approved final payments for:
    1. Runway 13/31 rehab and lighting: $372.90 (Helms) and $12,133.45 (Ephraimson Electric) – project complete.
    2. Terminal access road and parking lot: $10,621.04 (Helms) and $129,694.99 (Domy Construction) – final closeout.
    3. Multiple airport projects: $1,530.06 (APron reconstruction), $4,817.61 (terminal expansion), $500 (preconditioned air unit), and $8,400.32 (SRE building expansion) – various stages. All roll call votes: all aye.
  • Claims and Payroll: Approved payment of all bills. Mayor abstained from payment to Climate Control and Sewer Duck; Councilmember Johnson abstained from reimbursement to himself. Motion carried.

Key Outcomes

  • Firearms ordinances adopted: Final reading approved for Ordinance 260303 (waterfowl hunting) and 260304 (air guns).
  • Emergency ambulance replacement approved: $212,780 remount from Premier Specialty Vehicles, with funding from contingency and reserves.
  • WRF pay request approved: $1.42 million for ongoing treatment plant improvements.
  • Ford Explorer purchased: $43,661 from state bid for wastewater department.
  • Two annexations approved: 11 and 40.5 acres respectively, both rezoned to R2 medium-density residential.
  • Bridge rehabilitation agreements approved: Overlay work on Second Street overpass scheduled for 2026–2027.
  • Airport projects closeout and payments approved: Multiple invoices for runway, terminal, and equipment.
  • Sewer issue referred to staff: The Lloyds' situation will be reviewed by Jeremy and the mayor, with a follow-up promised.
  • City manager's report: Recognized Jory Coonsman for five years of library service; discussed recent snow removal event (3.7 inches, 410–420 parking tickets issued, vs. 550 in previous event).

Meeting Transcript

All right, let's call this being to order. Jordan, would you start us off with a roll call? Please respond by stating present. Councilmember Ronane. Private Foberg. We belt present. Ward. Present. Johnson present. Econger. President Nelson. President. Normstrap. Mayor Shanneman. Present. Please stand with me for the Pledge of Allegiance. All right. Our first order business will be to approve this week's agenda as printed uh last week. Move to approve. Second. Get a motion from Councilman E. Conger and a second from Councilman Ward. All in favor, please say aye. Aye. Aye. Opposed nay. That motion carries next approval of the minutes from the last meeting, which took place on March 2nd. There was an amended payroll section that was not available at the time of the printing. So we will amend those minutes to reflect that payroll pay period being an added. Take a motion. Move to approve as amended. Second. Got a motion from Councilman Johnson. Second, Councilman Lee Belt, all in favor, please say aye. Aye. Aye. Aye. Opposed day. All right. The motion carries as well. Next we've got uh speaker here for our open form. It's a couple. And just to start things off, they had reached out to me in advance, and I had sent an email around our city hall a little bit to try to get a better understanding of where things were at with this, but they have a bit of a sewer and a piping issue. So if you guys would make your way up to that podium in the back and make sure that the little green light is on the base of that thing. It should say push. Um we'll give you a few minutes here. You can go ahead and kind of explain um what your situation is, and we'd definitely, of course, like to help you out. Uh, but we don't really respond to situations like this. We will take notes and we'll um feed it through the proper channels, and we'll definitely be right back in touch with you. So why don't you go ahead and introduce yourselves and kind of explain your situation?

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