Like to call this meeting to order.

Let's start by reading the Pledge of Allegiance.

Liberty and Justice Raw.

Welcome to this joint meeting of the Brookings County Commission in the Brookings City Council.

Will the City Clerk please take attendance for the council?

Mr.

Deputy Mayor, there are six council members present this evening.

Mayor Neemeyer is absent.

And there are four county commissioners present with County Commissioner Post absent.

Thank you.

Item number three is the approval of the agenda.

I'd like to entertain a motion from the council to approve the agenda.

So moved.

Second.

Got a motion and a second.

I'll turn it over to Commissioner Hosler now for County Commission action.

I'd like to entertain a motion for the county commission to approve the agenda.

Motion approved.

Baggett.

Motion of second received.

All right.

Are there any comments from the public on this evening's agenda?

Any comments from either the city council or the county commission.

All right, hearing none, will the city clerk please call the roll?

Avery.

Aye.

Doran?

Aye.

Hager?

Aye.

Specker.

Aye.

Tilton Byrne.

Aye.

Wendell?

Aye.

Will the county please call roll?

The Annerwall?

Aye.

Miller.

Aye.

Jensen.

Hosler.

Aye.

Motion carries.

All right.

Item four on the agenda is the item that's brought us here together this evening.

It's item four A, which is a public hearing and action on City of Brookings Ordinance 26-013 and Brookings County Commission ordinance 2026-002.

An ordinance amending chapter 94, appendix A, joint zoning ordinance for the City of Brookings and Brookings County.

Community Development Director Mike Struck will review this item.

Thank you, Mayor and members of the Council and the County Commission.

Uh the ordinance before you tonight is an amendment to change the publication requirements for our joint zoning ordinance between the city and county.

Uh staff is proposing that we change it to ten days.

That's consistent with state law.

It also provides us a little bit of flexibility with our newspaper publications.

They only publish twice a week.

We ran into some scenarios where you know for whatever reasons a notice maybe gets published.

We've been trying to publish them 14 days, but it does give us that ability then to publish on Friday and still meet the 10-day requirement and it meets state statute.

It does come to you with a unanimous recommendation from the Brookings County Planning Commission and a four-to-one approval from the City Planning Commission on approval of making this change.

With that, I would stand for any questions you may have.

Thank you for that overview, Mike.

I'd like to start by entertaining a motion from the City Council to approve ordinance twenty-five zero zero two.

Eight.

So moved.

Motion and a second received.

Okay, with both motions on the floor, I'd like to open the public hearing on this item.

Is there any public comment on the ordinance?

Hearing nothing from the public, does the city council or the county commission have any questions or comments to share?

Okay, hearing uh no questions or comments.

I'd maybe just wait make one comment to echo something that that Mike shared.

This really aligns with existing state law.

Uh and now that the register is just publishing twice per week, it perhaps better meet some of those uh needs as well in the community.

So uh appreciate this shift, and again, it just aligns with existing South Dakota state law.

Thanks.

Will the city clerk please call the rule?

Doran.

Aye, Hager.

Aye, Specker, aye.

Tilton Byrne, aye.

Wendell?

Aye.

Avery.

Aye.

Wood County, please call a roll.

Miller.

Jensen.

Vanderwall.

Hustler.

Right.

Motion carries.

Okay.

The only item left on the agenda is item number five, which is adjournment.

So I'd entertain a motion from the city council to adjourn this joint city council and county commission portion of the meeting.

So moved.

Second.

And I would also entertain a motion for the county commission to adjourn the joint city council, county commission meeting.

Motion adjourned.

Second.

Motion and second received.

All those in favor respond by saying aye.

Aye.

Those opposed, same sign.

Meeting adjourned.

Okay, we're gonna get started with our regular meeting agenda.

For those of you that might just be joining us, we had a joint meeting with the Brookings County Commission that started at 5:30, and we handled sort of all of the initial order of business there at 5 30.

So we did the Pledge of Allegiance then and we did the roll call then, and so you won't be hearing that.

Uh right now, we're gonna move right into uh the regular meeting agenda.

And if you're watching at home, don't adjust your dial.

The mayor is absent this evening, and so I'm filling in uh in his stead.

The first item on our regular meeting agenda is item number six, which is the 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 where there when there is one minute remaining.

Your time for comment has 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 this evening's agenda?

Please come forward, speak into the microphone, introduce yourself and share your address if you will.

Lower this a little bit.

How's that?

Sounds good.

My name's Luke Davidson.

I'm a Brookings resident of 30 years.

I'm here today to speak about a growing problem affecting some of the most financially vulnerable people in our community.

Unpredictable excessive rent increases in mobile home parks.

To define the problem, some residents are seeing increases of 60%.

Others are seeing multiple increases in one year due to being on month-to-month leases and due to their parks being bought and sold by ownership groups outside of Brookings and often outside of South Dakota.

Trailers are one of the few paths to homeownership for low-income people.

They often own the home, but they almost always lease the land on a month-to-month basis.

Moving a trailer is expensive.

Twenty thousand dollars in the case of a double wide.

This is prohibitive as a family in this situation likely doesn't have that kind of liquid capital and cannot get a loan for the move, and therefore is at the mercy of their landlords.

There are also no new parks being developed, and open spaces are limited to non-existent homeowners are essentially trapped.

And add to this the fact that several parks have had BMU notices saying they cannot try the safety of the drinking water in those parks, while the park owners have done nothing to signal the work to solve this problem, and we see a potential snowball effect.

Folks outside of Brookings are buying and selling the various parks to make quick profits.

Each time a park is sold, the rent increases, but the new owners provide no new services or benefits to the people living there.

They often, in fact, see services decline.

To point out the human impact, fixed and low-income residents cannot absorb sudden increases and cannot afford to move.

This is a community-wide issue.

It affects affordable housing stability for the entire city.

These practices can lead to increased homelessness or displacement and abandonment of homes, as we're seeing in the trailer park across from Western States next to the new Starbucks.

There are good actors.

I live in Suddy Meadows, owned by the McClemens family, and we are treated fairly.

However, we still face housing uncertainty due to being on a month-to-month lease.

We could be forced to move at any moment.

Solutions.

I had a long list of solutions until I discovered South Dakota Law 6-1-13, which prohibits cities from controlling rent of private residential properties unless the city has a property interest.

However, could the city buy a trailer park or two and use the income to pay off a loan and keep the rent stable or tie it to inflation?

Could the city implement a requirement that leases be yearly while not directly controlling how much the rent is?

Could the city city implement uh require uh sorry could the city require leases provide our park owners provide 90 to 100 180 days notice?

Could the city require the management or ownership group have on-site persons?

Sorry, I have two go for it.

Two points left.

Um, could the city require that management or the ownership group have an on-site person within Brookings who is available during normal business hours?

Or could the city implement an ordinance giving trailer park owners the right of first refusal on the sale of their park, the ability or the ability to collectively bargain to buy the park?

In summary, I ask that the city do something, anything to help prevent profit-hungry outside groups from displacing low-income families in Brookings.

Thank you, Luke.

Are there any additional public comments?

Okay.

Hearing none, let's move on to item number seven, which is action on the consent agenda.

Are there any items to be removed from the consent agenda?

Seeing none, I'd like to entertain a motion to approve the consent agenda.

So moved.

Second.

Okay, we have a motion and a second.

Is there any public comment on any consent agenda item?

Does the council have any questions or comments on any consent agenda item?

All right, well, the city clerk please call the roll on the consent agenda.

Hager Specker, hi.

Tiltenburn, aye.

Wendell?

Aye.

Avery?

Doran, aye.

Consent agenda approved.

Item number eight.

I invite Charlie Richter, the city engineer and public works department representative and public works staff to come forward to accept a proclamation designating public works week.

I'll meet you at the podium, Charlie.

Okay, we have a mayoral proclamation recognizing uh May 17th through the 23rd, 2026 is National Public Works Week, whereas public works professionals focus on infrastructure, facilities, and services that are of vital importance to sustainable and resilient communities and to the public health, high quality of life, and well-being of the people of the city of Brookings.

And whereas these infrastructure facilities and services could not be provided without the dedicated efforts of public works professionals who are engineers, managers, and employees at all levels of government and the private sector, who are responsible for rebuilding, improving and protecting our nation's transportation, water supply, water treatment, and solid waste systems.

Public buildings and other structures and facilities essential for our citizens.

And whereas, it is in the public interest for the citizens, civic leaders, and children in the city of Brookings to gain knowledge of and maintain an ongoing interest and understanding of the importance of public works and public works programs in their respective communities.

And whereas 2026 marks the 66th annual national public works week.

Now therefore it be resolved on behalf of Open Meyer, mayor of the city of Brookings.

And we urge all citizens to join in activities, events, and ceremonies designed to pay tribute to our public works professionals and to recognize the substantial contributions they make to protecting our national health, safety, and advancing quality of life for all.

I'm going to turn it over to Charlie now to make a few comments.

As your city engineer, I'm here to say a few words regarding Public Works Week.

Next week is an opportunity to recognize and celebrate public works and the men and women who make up this department.

Public works is more than just construction projects or snow plowing of streets.

We'll briefly highlight examples of the service services we provide.

Engineering is responsible for projects ranging from street paving and traffic signals to traffic counts.

As you can see from the list on the screen, engineering is involved in most horizontal construction projects throughout the city.

In addition to construction, uh engineering also oversees the airport, drainage maintenance, flood mitigation, stormwater incentives, and public education efforts.

The streets division performs a wide variety of tasks to help keep motorists safe together.

Streets and engineering are responsible for maintaining more than 300 lane miles of roadway.

Last year alone, the streets division swept more than three to seven hundred lane miles of roadway, spread over 950 tons of salt and sand, installed more than 900 signs and placed more over two uh 2700 tons of gravel on our roadways.

The solid waste division provides collection and disposal services while continuing to look for innovative way innovative ways to improve service and sustainability.

Over the past year, Solid Waste installed its new Z-Wall area, piloted a new compost program, continued its holiday light recycling program, and installed a new landfill force main that replaced costly trucking operations.

Help us reach people of all ages.

In my nearly 30 years in public works, I have never been so proud to work alongside such a dedicated team, one that continually looks for innovative ways to improve service, strengthen sustainability, and better serve our community.

In a moment, we'd like to get a photo with the staff that's here and the council, but I just wanted to share a note on behalf of the council.

A huge note of appreciation to the staff that's here this evening and those that aren't able to join us.

Um I think managing a public works operation in a growing city like ours and in a city that experiences all four climates.

Uh we recognize the the huge lift that is, and it's certainly a point of pride for our city.

We hear from residents and visitors the condition uh of our public spaces and the streets that folks drive on and the sidewalks they walk on and the conditions of our neighborhoods, and that's really a tribute to our staff and and your leadership.

So thank you for your dedication and your expertise and your commitment to the city of Brookings.

Um, we're really proud of the work that you do and proud to have this week in honor of your service.

So, with that, let's uh gather at the dais and we'll take a photo.

I think I've short time.

Hi, I think they are coming around.

Okay, yeah.

Oh, yeah, and I cannot see Bonnie there.

Or Wayne.

I think you will all have to come forward with this.

We've got to arrest some really tall people.

Come up, come up front, everybody.

There's these guys are tall.

Mr.

Wayne's hiding.

Thank you.

Okay.

Okay, let's move on now to item 8B, which is ex officio reports from City Council members.

As counselors, we have the opportunity to serve on a number of related boards throughout the community and provide exoficial reports at these public meetings on a regular basis.

First, let's hear an exofficial report on the Brookings Health System Board of Trustees from Councilmember Hager.

I attended the April 27th meeting, which there was a variety of different highlights.

The first one was that we had a tour of the OB unit by Director Michelle Sand.

So we got to see a patient room, the nursery, the lounge, and the follow-up appointment room.

During the course of our tour, we heard about how there has been an increase in births, and there is work being done to attract more moms from the region to choose Brookings.

And there's been additional support for doulas, especially for Medicaid patients.

So those are all being rolled out relating to each pillar.

So those pillars are connecting technology and data, keeping health care local and strong, advancing the rural workforce, and transforming systems for sustainability.

The finance department is working on improving the rate in billing that takes place after discharge, so it's closer to seven days consistently.

And then positive progress is being made on a variety of quality related items, such as working on hospice patient satisfaction, improving the management of oral medications for home health care patients, working to increase surgical services, and continuing to exceed benchmarks for preventable hospitalizations and dosage metrics in the pharmacy.

End of report, and I stand by for any questions.

Thank you, Mayor.

Yeah, I just wanted to point out with the tour of the OB unit.

We also got a quick overview of some mental health resources for new moms.

So I just wanted to give a quick shout out to the new moms in our community to know that there is support available.

They have a mom cafe where they have multiple maternal mental health programs, including weekly support groups.

It's totally free and available for those moms, so please reach out to the hospital to get connected.

Thank you.

Thank you both.

Any questions or comments for our exofficios to the health system board of trustees?

Okay, hearing none, let's move on to the Brookings Municipal Utility Board ex-officials.

Councilmember Specker.

Yep.

The meeting took place yesterday on May 11th.

Last month I had mentioned this FCC ban on home routers that will happen in 2027.

And that was discussed a little bit, and there it has to do with a ban of home routers with components that are made overseas.

And this has generated a lot of questions, and BMU is going to be providing additional information to its customers in the near future.

A reminder that BMU construction projects are summarized, were summarized at the open house in March, but you can check on updates on that in Brookings Community Construction.com.

BMU, the MRES and Bright Energy Solutions gave a rebate check to Solventum for their use of energy efficient products.

The new water treatment plant will have a open house for the public, the general public on June 9th.

And you stay tuned for like the actual hours, but I highly recommend a tour of that.

The well-filled expansion.

There are six new wells that are somewhat operational, but be should be totally completed by August.

Is under construction and is expected to be completed in September of this year.

The removal of the 6th Street Water Tower continues to bring a lot of attention to the vultures that nest there.

And there is a lot of discussion about that.

But one of the things that's sort of interesting, I guess the last water tower that was taken down was taken down in one day.

This particular water tower is a different type of construction, and it will take about two weeks for it to be taken down.

It's supposed to start this week.

They're putting the fences up, but because of the high winds, there may be some shifting in dates of that.

Also, there's um a lot of Facebook posts on the BMU site that have to do with fire hydrant flushing, lawn watering restrictions, the sump pumps, scholarship opportunities, a wide variety of topics.

They do have a lot of posts about some of these updates.

That's all.

Thank you, Councilmember Specker.

Any questions or comments for the council?

Okay, hearing none, let's move on to item 9A.

Action on resolution 26-030, a resolution awarding bids on 2026 008 STI asphalt maintenance project.

Charlie Richter, our city manager or city engineer will present this item.

Charlie?

Uh good evening, Council.

I'm here again.

Um I'm here tonight uh requesting approval of a resolution 20 uh 26-030 to award a contract for the 2026 asphalt maintenance project.

Uh this project will pay various locations, including 11th and 13th Avenues from 6th Street to 3rd Avenue, uh 3rd Street, uh, Maderi Avenue from 6th Street to 11th Street, Regency Court, Pheasant Run Circle, and at the landfill.

This project will also include removal of the hill on 20th Street South near Rapid Valley.

And this work was also this work was court is being coordinated with BMU and will include water and sewer work on 11th Avenue and 20th Street South.

Bids for this project were opened on May 5th.

The lowest of the two bidders for this project were Bose construction with a low bid of 1,939,086 five cents.

Sufficient appropriations of 2.69 million dollars exist in the amended fiscal year budget in fund 2013 capital projects and fund 6 uh 625 solid waste and with BMU.

Public works recommends that Bose construction be awarded the contract for this project.

Thank you, Charlie.

We'll start by entertaining a motion to approve.

So moved.

Second.

Okay, we have a motion and a second.

Is there any public comment on this item?

Hearing none, does the council have any questions or comments?

I just wanted to make a comment to reiterate a note that you made as a part of this project is the work on the hill on 20th Street or 20th Avenue South.

Um we know that as population density grows in that corner of the community removal of that hill uh we hope will improve both pedestrian and vehicle safety on that busy busy road.

So appreciate that being uh included in this project and prioritized.

Okay, will the city clerk please call the roll?

Specker.

Aye.

Tiltonburn, aye.

Wendell.

I Avery.

Doran.

Hi.

Hager.

Aye.

Okay, motion passes.

Item 10A.

Introduce introduction and first reading on ordinance 26019 and ordinance authorizing budget amendment number three to the 2026 budget.

Ashley Wrench, our finance director, will present this item.

Ashley.

Good evening, Deputy Mayor and members of the council.

This is the ordinance 26-019, amendment number three to the 2026 budget.

This amendment includes four parts related to communication support, beautification efforts, and funding adjustments associated with Brookings Regional Growth Alliance.

First, the amendment transfers 10,000 from the 3B tax fund to the general fund to support the addition of two public information office interns.

These interns will primarily assist with parks and recreation related communications, marketing, and community engagement efforts.

Second, the amendment allocates $30,000 within the 3B tax fund for landscaping and beautification of medians along Sixth Street and Key Retail Corridors.

These improvements are intended to enhance community aesthetics and support tourism and economic activity.

Third, the amendment shifts $50,000 of Brookings Regional Growth Alliance funding from the 3B tax fund to the Pillow Tax Fund.

This is simply a funding source adjustment intended to provide greater flexibility within the 3B fund and does not change the overall baseline contribution amount.

And finally, the amendment includes an additional 100,000 contribution to the Brookings Regional Growth Alliance funded through the Pillow Tax Fund to support restroom renovations associated with the downtown visitor center project at 416 Third Street.

The proposed public restrooms align with the downtown master plan and are intended to support downtown tourism events and overall accessibility of the downtown area.

The second reading of this ordinance will be May 26th, and I'll be glad to stand by for questions.

Thank you.

Thank you, Ashley.

Are there any questions or comments for Ashley from the council?

Councillor Dorn.

Thank you, Mayor.

Not specifically for Ashley, but it is on this topic.

One of the questions I have is actually for Sherry.

People constantly ask, you know, what is happening with the city.

The city is always evaluating how to best disseminate information, give updates, market programs, build civic engagement and communication, and these communication interns are a great way to increase that.

Sherry, I was wondering if you could just overview the breadth of the communication efforts that your office does and that these interns will support.

Yes, thank you for the question.

This uh we originally had budgeted $15,000 from 3B in the 2026 budget in anticipation of one intern, and that intern would be working primarily on uh promotion of parks, recreation, and forestry department activities and events.

The additional $10,000 will go towards supporting a second intern.

Um we were fortunate that when we interviewed uh candidates, we found two excellent candidates, uh actually more than that, but Paul said only two.

Both of these interns will split their time between marketing and communications for parks, recreation, and forestry, and also other city departments and general marketing efforts.

Um of the reasons for this is that our parks, recreation, and forestry department has a phenomenal number of really fantastic events almost back to back to back all summer long to benefit our residents and visitors to our community, and so we want to be sure that we have additional uh bandwidth with interns to promote those uh to our community and bringing on an additional intern, having the two will allow us to better communicate that, not just for parks, recreation, and forestry, however, but really for all of the city and to the point that you are making.

Um people do often think just throw uh something up on Facebook and call it good, but there is a lot more to that.

Um we write news releases and create handouts and posters, and we manage our the city website.

Uh the city does have several different um social media accounts, and so if we're not managing those ourselves, we're helping other staff manage those and try to stay within guidelines and best practices for those.

Those requests come through the public information officer, and we make those arrangements for those interviews to happen.

And then in addition to that, of course, we have a lot of different community engagement opportunities.

Some such as the Dakota Bank open houses that we recently had, but also special events.

And again, we have a lot of those coming up starting a month from now with the wall that heals traveling exhibit coming to Brookings.

So we're thankful to have two really good interns helping us out with all of that.

Thank you.

I just really wanted you to take a moment for the public to understand that we are limited capacity of what we can do, and so I'm excited for your department to get this support because just like you said, we barely scratched the surface, but you've done so much too.

So I I really wanted to give you that moment.

So thank you for that answer.

I do have a second question as well.

Um this may be for our representatives in the room from the economic development or Brookings Regional Alliance, sorry, uh, with the public restrooms.

I was wondering if uh any considerations around uh two separate topics.

One would be accessibility of like a changing table or an adult changing table, as well as a second consideration of any mother's rooms were built into this project, or maybe that's an ongoing discussion.

Um, just as we know that different individuals and families will be utilizing these restrooms, it's a great public health amenity.

And so I was wondering if you could speak for a moment about those plans.

And Kirsten, if you would introduce yourself, that'd be helpful.

Thank you.

Hi, I'm Kirsten Jezdal.

I'm the community development director for the Brookings Regional Growth Alliance, and one of the projects that I get to work on is our new kind of welcome center and office space in downtown, which we're very excited about, which includes some public restrooms, which is a very desired and wanted thing in our neighborhood by our businesses and our visitors.

And so the plan is to have two restrooms that would be available Monday through Friday and then on Saturdays while the welcome center is open.

Um, that would have all the amenities you would expect out of a bathroom as well as changing tables in both bathrooms.

Um, so very excited about that.

Um, they are intended to be meaningfully handicap accessible so anyone can access them and use them.

And um what was the second question?

Sorry, sure.

No, you're good.

Okay, so with changing tables, it was uh would it be adult changing table accessible as well?

I know that that's an additional specialty.

I don't know yet.

So um design plans are still in the work, so possibly, but I can't confirm.

Um, but I do know um changing tables for babies would be included, and then a mother's room is something that we would like to have that would be in um likely in phase two of the project.

Um it's the kind of remodel project is quite vast and large to bring the kind of facility up to all of the amazing possibilities we have with that space for workforce training for events for socials.

Um really excited about the possibility, um, but have to take it piece by piece.

So, mother's room is uh phase two um, hopefully project.

Sure, thank you so much.

I appreciate that.

I just want to make sure that just like what you said, this project is highly requested, and if we're making an investment, I want to make sure that it is an intentional investment for something that maybe people often overlook, but of making sure that it is accessible to all of our visitors is important.

So thank you for those considerations.

Uh council Totenburn.

Thank you.

I uh don't have any additional questions.

I just want to reiterate that I have similar sentiments to Councilmember Doran.

Um, I would love in this facility to see not only a mother's room and changing tables for babies, but an adult changing table in the space as well.

That can be really impactful for individuals that have other disabilities and maybe need that additional support when they're out and about.

And so just another uh reinforcement that there would be the support for that, I think from at least two council members here.

Um so thank you for the work you're doing to get this space established, and we look forward to seeing what it looks like.

Yeah, I'll make sure to pass the note on to our um architect and designer.

So thank you.

Okay, folks, I'm new around here, and so I forgot to request any public comment on this item, which really should have preceded the council comments or questions.

So before we move on to any other counselor comments on this question or on this item, I should request uh any comments from the public if there are any.

Okay, hearing none, we can resume comments and questions from the council.

Any additional comments and questions from the council on this item.

Okay, we don't take action on first reading, so the second reading and potential action on this item will be held May 26th.

Let's move on to item 11A, which is a second reading and action on ordinance 26015 and ordinance authorizing budget amendment number two to the 2026 budget.

Ashley Ranch Finance Director will present this item.

Ashley Thank you, Deputy Mayor and members of the council.

This is the second reading of ordinance 26-015, amendment number two to the 2026 budget.

This amendment transfers $13.4 million dollars from the City Council Financial Policy Projects Fund to the Brookings Police Station Facility Capital Project Fund and establishes the necessary budget authority for project related expenses.

As discussed during the first reading, these funds were previously identified for major capital projects, and this action formally commits those reserves to the police facility project.

Staff recommends approval of this ordinance as presented, and I'll stand by for questions.

Thank you.

Thank you, Ashley.

I'd like to entertain a motion to approve.

So moved.

Second.

It's been moved and seconded.

Are there any public comments on this item?

Does the council have any questions or comments on this item?

Okay, will the city clerk please call the roll?

Tilton Byrne?

Aye.

Wendell?

Aye.

Avery?

Aye.

Doran?

Aye.

Hager?

Aye.

Specker.

Aye.

Motion passes.

Item 11B.

Public hearing and action on a special event temporary alcoholic beverage application for the annual Brookings Volunteer Fire Association Street Dance.

Bonnie Foster, City Clerk will present this item.

Bonnie?

Deputy Mayor and Council members.

This is the Brookings Volunteer Annual Street Dance.

This year is gonna be the 110th celebration for this event.

This is also the 17th year that this event will be held in the downtown corridor.

Um there have been no alcohol compliance checks in the history of this event.

Uh staff does recommend approval, and we do have a representative here this evening if we have any questions for him.

Okay, thanks, Bonnie.

I entertain a motion to approve.

So moved.

Second.

Okay, we have a motion and a second.

I'd open the public hearing on this item.

Is there any public comment?

Okay, the public hearing is now closed.

Does the council have any questions or comments on this item?

Will the city clerk please call the roll?

Wendell.

Aye.

Avery.

Aye.

Doran?

Aye.

Hager?

Aye.

Specker?

Aye.

Tilton Byrne.

Aye.

Okay, motion passes.

Let's move on to item 11C, a public hearing and action on the annual MOLT alcoholic beverage license renewals for establishments which have failed an alcoholic beverage compliance check within the past 12 months.

Bonnie Foster, City Clerk will present this item.

Bonnie?

Deputy Mayor and Council members.

This action is for three establishments which have each failed an alcoholic beverage compliance check within the previous 12 months.

There are two cases store locations with failures, two failures in the last 24 months.

And Sedexo, whom utilizes the McCurry Gardens visitors center licenses had had three violations in the past 24 months.

The South Dakota Department of Revenue did suspend their license from March 1st through March 14th of this year.

That license has since been reinstated by the Department of Revenue.

All establishments did complete their state's required processes and paid the associated fees and fines.

The last alcohol check completed in October 25.

None of these establishments had had any reoccurrences since that time.

If the council does so approve, the licenses will be forward to the Department of Revenue for a final review and issuance of their 2026-2027 licenses.

All of these establishments did provide a letter to the city council, which was provided under separate cover addressing the steps they have taken and the additional training that their staff is undergoing since these failures have occurred.

Thank you, Bonnie.

Uh I'll begin by entertaining a motion to approve.

So moved.

Okay, we have a motion and a second.

I'd open this public hearing on this item.

Is there any public comment?

Okay, the public hearing is now closed.

Does the council have any questions or comments?

Councilmember Hager?

Of course, my mic wasn't on.

All right.

I had a question for Casey.

So I know last year the policy that they put in place was to require the scanning of IDs for anyone under 40.

And in the information that we received, the new policy would require the scanning of ID for all age related purchases.

So my question is can that prompt be bypassed, or is that where the ID must be scanned in order for the purchase to take place?

Can a Casey's representative come forward?

If you'd introduce yourself and then uh answer the councillor's questions.

I'll have you wait till you get to the microphone so folks can hear you.

Thank you.

My name is Sarah Inez.

I'm the store manager of 22nd Avenue.

Um that requires you have to scan an ID every time.

Thank you.

Any other questions or comments from the council council member Specker?

Yeah, I think this is a question for Bonnie.

Um what happens?

So if you have a a third violation, your license is suspended for a while.

What happens then if you have a fourth violation?

That is a great question for the South Dakota Department of Revenue.

They we were the first community in the state to have a third violation within 24 months for the new staff that has been on board out there.

So they too are discovering evaluating, figuring out what is fair for all.

Um so this would be a question that we would want to take to them.

Okay, thank you.

Any other questions on this item?

Okay, will the city clerk please call the roll?

Avery.

Aye.

Doran, aye.

Hager, aye.

Specker, aye.

Tilton Byrne, Wendell.

Aye.

Motion passes.

Item 11D.

Public hearing in action on a request for an on off sale malt license for THR LLC doing business as JDs at Trailshead to be located at 1130 Main Avenue South.

Bonnie Foster, City Clerk will present this item.

Bonnie.

Deputy Mayor and Council members, item 11D and item 11E are for the same location.

The first one that we're going to talk about is their on off sale license.

Um, this is a new establishment going in.

Jesse Davis and Mary Joe Minor are the owners of this location.

This will be utilize a new portion down there in the same building.

Um, they will also be allowing alcohol to go on the west patio on the map in front of you where the numbers 1130 are.

That's kind of the location of the West Patio, and then the green space, which is kind of that internal uh area there where the word main is.

So alcohol will be allowed outside of the brick and mortar locations of the business, and that'll be dis that is um identified in the legal description that will be submitted to the states as allowable areas.

Um approved this license, like all of the other alcohol licenses will be forwarded to the Department of Revenue for final review and issuance.

Staff recommends approval.

Thank you, Bonnie.

I'd entertain a motion to approve.

So moved.

Second.

All right, it's been moved and seconded.

I'll open the public hearing on this item.

Is there any public comment?

Hearing none.

The public hearing is now closed.

Does the council have any questions or comments?

Okay, will the city clerk please call the roll on item 11D?

Doran.

Aye.

Hager?

Aye.

Specker, aye.

Tilton Burn, aye.

Wendell?

Aye.

Avery.

Aye.

Motion passes.

Let's move on to item 11E, a public hearing in action on resolution 26028, a resolution authorizing the city manager to enter into a 10-year on-sale wine operating agreement with THRLLC doing business as JDs at Trailshead.

Owners Jesse Davis and Mary Joe Minor.

Bonnie Foster, City Clerk will once again present this item.

Bonnie.

Deputy Mayor and Council members, this is indeed for a wine operating agreement for JDs.

Umperating agreements are issued for 10-year rotations with a five-year midterm renewal and handled accordingly with regular renewals annually as identified in state law.

So if approved, this license as well would be sent to the Department of Revenue for final review and issuance.

Staff does recommend approval.

Thank you, Bonnie.

I'll start by entertaining a motion to approve.

So moved.

Second.

It's been moved and seconded.

So I'll open the public hearing on this item.

Is there any public comment?

The public hearing is now closed.

Does the council have any questions or comments?

Last chance.

Okay.

Well, the city clerk please call the roll.

Hager.

Aye.

Specker.

Aye.

Tilton Burn.

Aye.

Wendell?

Aye.

Avery.

Dorain.

Aye.

Motion passes.

Item 11F.

Public hearing and action on resolution 26031.

A resolution of intent to lease real property to David Burnt for 26 acres of public land for agricultural cropland in the WeS edition.

Mike Struck, our community development director will present this item.

Mike.

Thank you, Deputy Mayor and Council, members of the public.

This is a resolution of intent to lease real property.

This land is just north of the target location.

It's city owned 26 acres.

We typically put it out every year or every two years for cropland.

We had a bid opening on April 21st.

We had two bidders.

David Burnt was the high bidder at 270 dollars per acre.

It does generate a little bit of revenue to the city, but more importantly, it helps us with weed control of this public property.

There the intent is uh with the resolution, it would authorize the city manager to enter into a lease agreement for one year with the option to renew for one additional year.

Um staff does recommend uh approval and would stand for any questions you may have.

Thanks, Mike.

I'll entertain a motion to approve.

So move.

Okay, we have a motion and a second.

So I'd open the public hearing on this item.

Is there any public comment?

Hearing none, the public hearing is now closed.

Does the council have any questions or comments?

Okay, well, the city clerk please call the roll on item 11 F.

Specker, aye.

Tilton Burn.

Aye.

Wendell?

Aye.

Avery?

Aye.

Doran?

Aye.

Hager.

Aye.

Motion passes.

Item 11 G.

Public hearing and action on ordinance 26014 in ordinance to amend Section 94 362 home occupations.

Mike Struck, community development director will present this item.

Mike.

Thank you, Deputy Mayor and members of the council.

Uh ordinance before you tonight is uh an amendment to our zoning ordinance pertaining specifically to home occupations.

You may recall we had a study session on this about a year or so ago.

Um our current ordinance classifies home occupations as two types either a minor or a major minor are reviewed and approved administratively through what we call a zoning and use registration permit.

Major home occupations uh go through a conditional use process, which goes to the planning commission.

They provide a recommendation to the city council.

There's two uh meetings with the city council, and then it's uh if approved by ordinance.

We kind of got into a situation where um the way work has changed.

Uh we felt we needed to really take a hard look and review this.

Um staff is proposing move into three categories where there's a no impact category, a minor, and then a major.

Um major being is it would still follow the same process through the conditional use.

Uh minor would still be reviewed through our checklist and could be approved administratively through uh the zoning and use registration permit process, and the no impact category would simply um kind of a discussion with staff.

Look at the check uh the checklist, and if the criteria um falls within that, no permits or anything are needed.

Previously, we tried to list out the different types of uses.

Um, and it's just difficult to keep up to date with everything.

So with this proposal, it's changed more to an intensity-based um home occupation where those that really have no impact that you know the neighboring properties would never know uh somebody is working from their home.

Um we really shouldn't be running them through all of this additional red tape just for them to work out of their house.

Um, you know, whether it be uh uh providing customer service or an artist or somebody that does narrating um for books or something like that.

Really no impact on the neighborhood.

And so that's the three categories that we came up with.

We had a good discussion with the planning commission on this, a lot of back and forth, and then we took it through the public hearing process, very minimal comments from the public, and it does come to you with a unanimous recommendation for approval.

And I'd stand for any questions you may have.

Thank you for that overview, Mike.

I'd entertain a motion to approve.

So moved.

It's been moved and seconded.

So I'll open the public hearing on this item.

Is there any public comment?

Okay, the public hearing is now closed.

Does the council have any questions or comments?

Councillor Specker.

I just want to thank the development office for working on this and sort of fine-tuning everything to make it so much more easier to interpret.

I appreciate that.

Thank you.

Any other questions or comments from the council?

Okay, hearing none, will the city clerk please call the roll?

Tilton Byrne.

Hi.

Wendell.

I Avery.

I Doran.

Hi.

Hager.

Aye.

Specker.

Aye.

Motion passes.

Item 11H is a public hearing in action on ordinance 26-016 in ordinance to change the zoning within the city of Brookings.

Portions of Outlaw 2 in the southwest corner of the northwest quarter in section 23, Township 110 North, range 50 West from a residence R1, a single family district to a residence R3 multifamily district and a business B3 heavy district.

Mike Struck, community development director, will present this item.

Mike.

Thank you, Mayor.

Sorry.

Thank you, Mayor and members of the council.

This rezoning is for a parcel property located along Western Avenue, uh north of the Huron Cove.

You can see on the overhead map, it's the area outlined in the light shaded uh blue boundary.

Uh it's approximately um you know, 1.1 acres um that would be rezoned up in the northwest uh quarter that would be for the B3.

Um about 4.4 acres are would be rezoned from R1A to R3, and then there'd still be about three 4.32 acres that would remain as they're currently zoned in the R1A.

Um you can see on the overhead, it shows the existing zoning map as well as the floodplain map.

The rezoning occurs kind of in the red shaded area, which is part of the floodplain.

The kind of uh hatched area is the floodway.

And so you can kind of see how the rezoning aligns with the uh the B3 up in the northwest corner, which um they're looking at potential opportunities for maybe some storage facilities of some sort that might help cater to some of the uh residents that would be interested in living in some of these units in this area.

Uh this does come to you on a seven to one recommendation for approval from the planning commission, and I would stand for any questions that you may have.

Thank you, Mike.

Uh all entertain a motion to approve.

So move.

It has been moved and seconded.

So I'll open the public hearing on this item.

Is there any public comment?

If you would share your name and address, thanks.

Uh good evening, uh city council members.

My name is Jacob Mills uh with Mills Development tonight here representing Heron Cove LLC.

Um I'll just give a brief kind of overview of our project and kind of what's brought us to here, and and I'm happy to answer specific questions.

But um we've been working on this project for uh a little over a year, purchased the property uh about a year and a half ago.

Uh it had a single family residence on it at the time, but uh previous owner had not repaired the roof.

It actually had a visible hole in the roof about the size of a bathtub, the basement was full of water.

Um so we just started by cleaning up the property, demolishing the buildings, um, getting rid of the weeds, um, and then kind of started the process of exploring uh the engineering, the approvals, the steps.

We knew going into this, there would be um floodplain requirements, rules, things that needed to be researched.

Um really was our goal to proactively uh attack those things.

So we had preliminary discussions with city staff over a year ago when when all we had was a concept plan, just kind of talking about this idea that you know we knew we needed to dig out an equal volume of whatever we filled, not import dirt, not cause um worse flooding issues.

So we had preliminary discussions with city staff over a year ago when when all we had was a concept plan, just kind of talking about this idea that you know we knew we needed to dig out an equal volume of whatever we filled, not import dirt, not cause um worse flooding issues, and you know that's where we started the the idea of exploring can we dig in the floodway and actually improve the overall situation, um, which is kind of our goal here.

Um so uh we've worked with banner engineering um to study all these things with uh preliminary things with FEMA, uh preliminary drainage issues, um balancing the site, had to make the site a little less dense than we initially planned just to keep all those things in check.

Um you know, I've just tried as much as we can, you know, to to really follow the spirit of the new regulations in this area, and especially because we own the project immediately south of here.

We we really have no one to harm more than ourselves if we do this wrong.

And so trying to show that uh we can develop these areas if we follow the rules and we and we do it proactively and and partnering with uh the folks that are you know kind of uh coordinating all that stuff.

So um we are not actively planning to start this project immediately.

We're hoping to move dirt or be able to get our approvals to be able to get bids and because this is potentially gonna be a challenging site depending on weather conditions.

Um right now, uh being in a bit of a drought would probably be a great time.

Um but you know, we may have to wait uh another year or two for those conditions to reappear for for the right timing to do this project and um just kind of starting through that process.

So happy to answer any questions probably later on after if you have any.

So any other uh public comment okay.

Hearing none, I'll close the public comment uh portion of our conversation and move on to council questions and comments.

Do any members of the council have questions or comments?

Councilmember Specker?

Yeah, and I think Jacob can probably answer this or Mike.

Um last meeting, we approved the zoning changes on this and discuss the flood zone and the construction requirements there.

I'm just curious when it's platted out, like is if that taking you know, getting the soil up two feet and taking it from somewhere else.

Does that cross then the platts, or does it have to be within the same plat?

Like if you're if you're trying to do that in R3, you know, build up the land in order to be able to build it according to the flood ordinances.

Can you then replace that amount over in the floodway, or does it have to be within the flood zone?

I think you're um or am I just like making this way more.

I think council members, what you're asking is um when you look at uh filling an area and then providing the um comparable compensatory storage.

How is that documented or recorded, or can it occur from it doesn't I don't think we really look at it um ideally if you can do it on the same property, but if you can do it within the same drainage basin, it would be acceptable.

I I think I can sort of answer your question, and that I I think part of the spirit of the new ordinances in these areas is to not just bring in imported dirt and add more dirt to the existing site.

And the way this is designed, no dirt would be imported.

The only areas that are elevated are going to be dug from other areas within the same parcel.

Okay, that's what I was wondering whether it's the same part.

Banner has done maps and studies to show that those volumes of what's being dug are equal to or greater than the volumes of what are being filled, if that's right.

I was just wondering if that building up and the compensatory part are within the same parcel, or are they going to be in the R3 and then that R1 floodplain?

They they they are within the same parcel as of right now.

Okay.

Thank you.

Just curious.

Any follow-up uh councillor specker?

No, any other questions or comments from council.

Okay.

Will the city clerk please call the rule?

Wendell.

I Avery.

I Dorian.

Aye.

Hager.

Aye.

Specker.

Aye.

Tilton Byrne.

Aye.

Okay.

Item 11H passes.

Let's move on to other business.

Item 12A.

Action on a preliminary plat of lots one through three in Herring Cove edition.

Mike Struck, community development director will present this item.

Mike.

Thank you, Mayor and members of the council.

The action before you tonight is review and potential approval of a preliminary plat for the Here on COVID edition.

It's this follows the previous item, which was the rezoning that would allow this development to proceed.

Essentially, what they're shown on the preliminary plan is three lots.

They coincide lot three cleared to the east, coincides with kind of the boundary of the floodway.

And that is coincides with the B3 rezoning, and then lot two is the R3 zoning that would allow the residential units.

This does meet our subdivision regulations.

In addition to this, there'll be two additional feet of right-of-way that will be dedicated along Western Avenue so that at some time in the future if that roadway is expanded or improved, it would have the right-of-way necessary to meet our collector standards.

This does come to you as an A to Zero recommendation for approval from the planning commission, and I'd stand for any questions you may have.

Thanks, Mike.

I'd like to entertain a motion to approve.

So moved.

Second.

Okay, we have a motion and a second.

Is there any public comment on this item?

Does the council have any questions or comments?

Councilor Doran.

Thank you, Mayor.

I just wanted to extend my appreciation for you guys being proactive with this project, engaging staff.

Um I appreciate that you really wanted to be intentional and take your time with us.

Thank you.

Any other questions or comments from the council?

Okay, seeing none, will the city clerk please call the roll on item 12A?

Avery.

Aye.

Doran?

Aye.

Hager?

Aye.

Specker.

Aye.

Tilton Byrne.

Aye.

Wendell.

Aye.

Motion passes.

Okay, let's move on to item 12B.

Action on resolution 26027, a resolution amending the consolidated fee schedule.

Ashley Rench, the finance director, will present this item.

Ashley?

Thank you, Deputy Mayor and members of the council.

This is resolution 26-027, amending the consolidated fee schedule for parks, recreation, and forestry, labor and equipment rates.

The current fee schedule uses flat hourly rates for labor and equipment usage.

And while those rates provided a simple structure, they no longer accurately reflect the actual labor costs or equipment operating expenses.

This amendment updates labor rates to be based on the average burden salary rate by position title, which incorporates wages, benefits, and associated employment costs.

The amendment also replaces the existing flat equipment rates with rates based on the current FEMA schedule of equipment rates, which reflects nationally recognized operating cost standards, including fuel maintenance, depreciation, and usage.

These updates improve transparency, consistency, and cost recovery while ensuring the city's fee structure better reflects the actual cost of service delivery.

Staff recommends approval of this resolution as presented, and I'll stand by for questions.

Thank you.

Thanks, Ashley.

I'll entertain a motion to approve.

So moved.

Second.

Okay, it's been moved and seconded.

Is there any public comment on this item?

It's gotten pretty lonely in here tonight, so we'll move on.

Does the council have any questions or comments?

Okay, will the city clerk please call the roll?

Doran?

Aye.

Hager?

Aye.

Specker?

Aye.

Tilton Byrne?

Aye.

Wendell?

Aye.

Avery.

Aye.

Item passes.

Okay, item 13 is uh city council member introduction for future discussion.

Uh I'll just note that our next meeting is next Tuesday evening, May 19th.

It's a study session.

It'll start at 6 o'clock and be held in this room.

Uh it's an upstander and bystander training opportunity uh for staff and members of the council.

So we'll be back in this room one week from now.

Uh then our next regular uh action meeting is on Tuesday, May 26th.

Relatively uh light meeting that evening thus far.

We have some contracts and change orders.

We have a second reading on that budget amendment number three that we heard a first reading on tonight.

So that's on the 26th.

Uh any items that a member of the council would like to introduce for future discussion.

Councilor uh Doran.

Thank you, Mayor.

I just wanted to take a moment to thank Mr.

Davidson for bringing up uh an important community issue.

I think there was a lot to consider that was um provided to us today on the local and the state level.

Uh I wanted to encourage council through internal discussions as well as just the city in general with um conversations with our economic and community partners.

I do think that this is a conversation that should continue.

Um I don't have a formal request on a study session or uh another avenue at this moment, but I'd like us to continue the conversation as a council on how we can approach this topic in our community.

Just to make sure I understand, not a motion on the table to put this on a future agenda, but to ensure the conversation happens among the council and members of the community and other folks.

Yes.

Correct?

Okay.

Thank you.

Any other topics a member of the council might want to discuss on a future agenda?

Okay, hearing none, I'll entertain a motion to adjourn.

So moved.

Second.

Moved and seconded.

All those in favor signify by saying aye.

Aye.

Aye.

Those opposed, same sign.

Meeting adjourned.