OPENPUBLICA · PUBLIC MEETING RECORD
Record of Proceedings

Brookings City Council Meeting - January 20, 2026: Police Facility Sites, OnBoard Gov, Dakota Bank Center Future

Meeting Portal — Tuesday, January 20, 2026
BodyBrookings, South Dakota
SessionMeeting Portal
DateTuesday, January 20, 2026
StatusFILED
Video Record
0:00 / 1:32:04

Transcript — Verbatim
0:40

All right.

0:41

I call this meeting to order.

0:43

Please stand for the Pledge of Allegiance.

1:06

Thank you all for attending this evening.

1:08

Will the clerk please take attendance?

1:11

Mr.

1:11

Mayor, there are six council members present this evening.

1:14

Councilmember Wayne Avery is absent, and City Attorney Vince Jones is joining us via conference call.

1:21

All right.

1:21

Thank you.

1:23

Item three, approval of the agenda, entertain a motion to approve the agenda.

1:26

So moved.

1:27

Second.

1:28

Please call the roll.

1:30

Doran.

1:31

Aye.

1:32

Hager.

1:33

Aye.

1:33

Neymar.

1:34

Aye.

1:34

Specker.

1:35

Aye.

1:35

Tilton Byrne.

1:36

Aye.

1:36

Wendell.

1:38

Item four.

1:38

Open forum in order to provide equal access to all during the open forum and public comment portions of the meeting.

1:44

Each individual offering comments shall not exceed the allotted three-minute period.

1:49

The podium light turns green to yellow and when there is one minute remaining.

1:54

Your time for comment is expired when the podium light turns red.

1:57

Is there any member of the public who wishes to address the council on an item not listed on tonight's agenda?

2:08

Okay.

2:08

We'll move right on to item five.

2:12

Bonnie Foster or City Clerk will do a presentation on onboard gov.

2:22

Good evening, Mayor and members of the council.

2:25

I'm excited to share with you tonight this program.

2:28

It's on board govern it's gonna allow the city to go to a paperless volunteer board application process.

2:37

So what is on board?

2:39

We call it an open government solution.

2:41

It'll allow those citizens online access to complete those volunteer board applications, and it will allow staff to make easier updates of board members' contact information, term management, expiration reports, and so much more.

3:00

Why do we want to do this?

3:03

The existing process is paper, it's very manual and it's very time consuming for staff.

3:10

Online applications are gonna eliminate that paper process.

3:25

Provide more transparency in seat management, board member contact information, historical records who've sat in those seats.

3:45

So you'll see the purpose statement at the top, the second line here, and this word here is where it's gonna take us over to our new manual, our new module, the meeting information, and then this link which takes you to the insight page.

4:08

Each one of those on the individual board pages is board specific.

4:13

So let me bring this up for you.

4:19

So you can see it a little bit larger.

4:21

So you'll see up here it's a board.

4:23

You'll see we have a direct link to the creating authority for that board.

4:27

Here is gonna show up with vacancies, or we have seats which are expiring soon.

4:32

Those will run on 60 day notifications.

4:35

We've got a duplicate link here to take you to that agenda's minutes and uh video page over here, easy access.

4:45

Who is our staff liaison for that board?

4:47

Here's their office phone number, here's their email.

4:51

We've got the description of the board once again, so you don't have to go back out and come back into this duplicate again of the meeting information.

5:00

But the spotlight of this is this table down here at the bottom.

5:06

So this shows you who is currently seated on that board.

5:11

Each seat, each member is representative of one seat on the board.

5:15

We have some tabs over here.

Discussion Breakdown — Share of Meeting
Engineering And Infrastructure███████████████████████████████31%
Public Safety██████████████████████22%
Community Engagement█████████████████17%
Economic Development████████████████16%
Technology and Innovation█████████9%
Procedural█████5%
Summary of Proceedings

Brookings City Council Meeting - January 20, 2026

This meeting of the Brookings City Council convened at 6:00 PM (local time) on January 20, 2026. Key agenda items included a presentation on the new OnBoard Gov paperless volunteer board application system, a detailed review of potential sites for a new police facility, and a discussion on the future of the Dakota Bank Center. The council heard staff recommendations and engaged in extensive deliberation on site selection, community engagement, and financial considerations.

Consent Calendar

  • The council unanimously approved the agenda as presented. Councilmember Wayne Avery was absent. Approval was by roll call vote: Doran (aye), Hager (aye), Neymar (aye), Specker (aye), Tilton Byrne (aye), Wendell (aye).

Public Comments & Testimony

  • No members of the public offered comments during the open forum.

Discussion Items

OnBoard Gov Presentation (Item 5)

  • City Clerk Bonnie Foster presented a new digital platform, OnBoard Gov, designed to transition the city's volunteer board application process from paper to an online system. The system allows citizens to apply for up to three boards in a single session, provides historical records of board members (dating back to 1996 for some boards), and offers seat management, term expiration notifications, and staff liaison information. Foster noted that currently only staff receive application submissions, but future plans include backend staff access. Councilmembers expressed strong support, with Councilmember Tilton Byrne suggesting future inclusion of council seats and Councilmember Doran praising the user-friendliness and potential for recruitment. Questions were raised about application management after submission and the depth of historical data. Foster indicated historical records would be expanded as time allows.

Police Facility Site Considerations (Item 6)

  • City Manager Paul Bercino and Police Chief Mike Drake presented an updated analysis of potential sites for a new police facility. The need for a new facility was driven by the aging (over 60 years) and undersized current station (1.3 acres), structural deficiencies, and the need for a welcoming space for the public and adequate space for dispatch operations (handling over 46,000 calls per year).

  • Staff reviewed 22 sites over six years. After community feedback in November 2025 highlighting concerns about neighborhood impact, staff re-evaluated using six weighted criteria: finance, infrastructure replacement, stormwater drainage, restricted hazards, neighborhood impact, access/traffic safety, and future growth potential.

  • Resulting ranking: 1. Dakota Bank Center, 2. Marketplace RTI, 3. Marketplace (WES property), 4. Fishback Soccer Complex, 5. Private Site B, 6. Airport site, 7. Private Site A, 8. Teener Field, 9. School District site. Staff recommended the Dakota Bank Center and the WES property (north of the new Target/Aldi development) as the top two interchangeable sites, both with no acquisition cost (city-owned), existing infrastructure, and future growth potential. The WES property's only con was reducing available commercial land. The Dakota Bank Center site could be located at various spots on the property, potentially impacting parking but offering high visibility.

  • Other considered sites had significant drawbacks: the Airport site (FAA restrictions, $1.8-2.5M cost, 6-year purchase timeline), Fishback Soccer Complex (loss of park investment, wet area), School District site (neighborhood concerns, congestion misperceptions), and Teener Field (flooding, grant obligations). Private land costs were estimated at $1.8-3M.

  • Chief Drake explained that the police department's patrol model (east/west sectors) and existing substations (e.g., East Firehouse) ensure officers spend 90% of their time in the field, minimizing response time impacts regardless of headquarters location. The vision includes a satellite office with a human presence downtown.

  • Councilmembers asked detailed questions: Councilmember Wendell questioned the assumption of 100 parking spaces and the potential for a satellite office; Councilmember Doran inquired about the decision to keep dispatch and police together (Chief cited operational efficiency and employee well-being); Councilmember Hager sought clarification on site ranking methodology and the commercial development trade-off for the marketplace sites; Councilmember Specker called for a public meeting to gather input. Staff recommended that the council decide on a site or schedule a public meeting before final action.

Dakota Bank Center Future (Item 7)

  • Staff members Kristen Zimmerman, Samantha Beckman, and Johnny Mays presented an overview of the Dakota Bank Center's operations and financial outlook. The facility, built in 2001 at 102,000 square feet, is currently managed by Oak View Group (OVG) under a contract expiring December 31, 2026. The city attorney recommends notifying OVG of intent by June 30, 2026.

  • Financials show an annual operating subsidy of approximately $500,000 plus $500,000 in capital needs. Actual performance has fallen short of OVG's 2021 proposal due to national event trends (fewer tours to secondary markets), post-COVID shifts, and election-year impacts. Councilmembers expressed frustration with OVG's corporate forecasting but praised local staff (Ashley and team) for exceptional service and creativity.

  • Staff recommendation: Conduct a community-driven engagement process (surveys, open houses, focus groups) to determine the facility's future direction—whether to maintain as an event center, convert to a recreation center, explore other uses, or issue a new RFP. Councilmember Specker suggested combining this with police facility public sessions, but staff noted timeline constraints and recommended separate sessions. Councilmembers Doran and Hager advocated for providing a menu of options in any survey to spark ideas. Councilmember Tilton Byrne reiterated support for local staff. The goal is to have a clear direction by June 2026.

Key Outcomes

  • No formal votes were taken on the police facility or Dakota Bank Center. Council directed staff to bring a resolution for police facility site selection to the January 27 meeting, but several members expressed the need for more community input first. Councilmembers agreed to engage service organizations and the activity center for feedback, and staff may schedule a public meeting if directed.
  • For the Dakota Bank Center, staff will develop a community engagement plan, potentially including an online survey and a public meeting in March 2026, to gather input on the facility's future use. Council instructed staff to present a timeline and options for engagement at the next meeting.
  • Next meeting: January 27, 2026, will include consent agenda items, approval of a contract, first reading of a solid waste amendment (e-waste), second readings of temporary alcohol permits and the consolidated fee schedule, and possible discussion on selecting a police facility site pending community feedback.

Meeting Transcript

All right. I call this meeting to order. Please stand for the Pledge of Allegiance. Thank you all for attending this evening. Will the clerk please take attendance? Mr. Mayor, there are six council members present this evening. Councilmember Wayne Avery is absent, and City Attorney Vince Jones is joining us via conference call. All right. Thank you. Item three, approval of the agenda, entertain a motion to approve the agenda. So moved. Second. Please call the roll. Doran. Aye. Hager. Aye. Neymar. Aye. Specker. Aye. Tilton Byrne. Aye. Wendell. Item four. Open forum in order to provide equal access to all during the open forum and public comment portions of the meeting. Each individual offering comments shall not exceed the allotted three-minute period. The podium light turns green to yellow and when there is one minute remaining. Your time for comment is expired when the podium light turns red. Is there any member of the public who wishes to address the council on an item not listed on tonight's agenda? Okay. We'll move right on to item five. Bonnie Foster or City Clerk will do a presentation on onboard gov. Good evening, Mayor and members of the council. I'm excited to share with you tonight this program. It's on board govern it's gonna allow the city to go to a paperless volunteer board application process. So what is on board? We call it an open government solution. It'll allow those citizens online access to complete those volunteer board applications, and it will allow staff to make easier updates of board members' contact information, term management, expiration reports, and so much more. Why do we want to do this? The existing process is paper, it's very manual and it's very time consuming for staff. Online applications are gonna eliminate that paper process. Provide more transparency in seat management, board member contact information, historical records who've sat in those seats. So you'll see the purpose statement at the top, the second line here, and this word here is where it's gonna take us over to our new manual, our new module, the meeting information, and then this link which takes you to the insight page. Each one of those on the individual board pages is board specific. So let me bring this up for you. So you can see it a little bit larger. So you'll see up here it's a board. You'll see we have a direct link to the creating authority for that board.

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