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OPENPUBLICA · PUBLIC MEETING RECORD

Record of Proceedings

Spearfish City Council Study Session - October 29, 2025

City Council — Wednesday, October 29, 2025

BodySpearfish, South Dakota

SessionCity Council

DateWednesday, October 29, 2025

StatusFILED

Video Record

0:00 / 1:00:03

Transcript — VerbatimClick a timed line to jump · ⧉ to share it

Speaker numbers apply only to this recording.

Speaker 1

2:24

Obviously, yeah.

Speaker 2

2:28

Oh, okay.

Speaker 3

2:29

All right.

2:36

Good afternoon, everyone.

2:37

Uh thank you for being so timely for tonight's study session.

2:41

Um we have an agenda before us here at for the council to look at.

2:46

Uh there's no changes from my end that I've heard of.

2:49

Is there a motion to approve as presented?

Speaker 4

2:51

Move to approve.

2:54

Second.

Speaker 3

2:54

We have a motion in the second.

2:56

All in favor?

Unassigned speaker

2:58

Okay,

Speaker 3

2:59

the motion carries.

3:00

Uh item two.

3:01

We're going to take a quick review of next Monday night's uh city council meeting.

Unassigned speaker

3:05

So

Speaker 3

3:06

Michelle will pull that up on the screen and we'll roll through it briefly here.

3:09

Go ahead.

3:10

Michelle lets you start off.

Speaker 5

3:12

Sure.

3:13

So under consent agenda, we have some minutes of the last study session and our

Unassigned speaker

3:20

last

Speaker 5

3:21

council meeting and study session that coordinate with that.

3:24

Some new uh higher wages listed there for information only.

3:28

Items from visitors will have mayor read a proclamation for the VFW Buddy Poppy Day in Spearfish.

3:36

And then we'll hear from Heath Johnson and the Matthews Opera House.

3:41

They have a request for a grant, uh matching grant and waiving of the building permit fees for their back exit stairwell reconstruction project.

3:51

So there is information in the packet on that project that they're doing and the funds that they've raised for

Unassigned speaker

3:57

it.

Unassigned speaker

4:03

And then

Speaker 6

4:04

City Attorney,

Speaker 5

4:05

I'll turn it

Speaker 6

4:05

over.

Speaker 2

4:19

So we will have the uh um the uh purchase agreement associated with that, and then also the uh the resolution authorizing the transfer of the property to SEDC to facilitate transferring it out to uh Hillsy.

Speaker 5

4:40

Uh open container permit request now that we change the ordinances to allow open containers on publicly owned property.

4:47

This is the official action for Black Hill State University's tailgate events that they have.

Unassigned speaker

4:52

Um

Speaker 5

4:53

so we'll have a public hearing or we'll have consideration of that application.

4:57

There's just a few home games left.

Unassigned speaker

5:00

Um, but we'll dot our I's and cross our T's there.

Unassigned speaker

5:02

Um,

Speaker 5

5:02

we do also have a public hearing to consider an application from Emmett Rice Stoffer uh of Genesis Farms LLC.

5:11

That's for the cannabis establishment license located at 320 26 street suite number five.

5:18

This is the same location where we have the um GLP dispensaries, just the ownership within GLP dispensary has changed.

5:28

So according to our ordinances, that license cannot stay.

5:33

And so that license will be deemed void.

5:36

The next one that's on the uh list.

5:39

The only license that we have on the list is with Emmett Ricefer, which is involved with GLP currently.

5:47

So it's just basically an organizational change behind the scenes, but it will be a new license for

Unassigned speaker

5:54

us

Speaker 5

5:54

because they did have a complete turnover in the ownership.

Speaker 3

5:58

Okay.

Unassigned speaker

5:58

And

Speaker 5

5:59

that's why you'll see you're seeing that public hearing.

6:02

So it's not the renewal of the license.

6:04

This is a whole new license being issued to them because the prior license, the ownership has changed on it.

Speaker 3

6:10

Okay.

6:10

So we hold a public hearing and then it'd be the next council meeting approve it.

Speaker 5

6:14

No, we would approve the license

Discussion Breakdown — Share of Meeting

Transportation Safety██████████████████████22%

Public Works█████████████████17%

Procedural████████████12%

Public Engagement███████████11%

Public Safety█████████9%

Legal Affairs█████████9%

Engineering And Infrastructure████████8%

Zoning Regulations█████5%

Parks and Recreation████4%

Summary of Proceedings

Spearfish City Council Study Session - October 29, 2025

The Spearfish City Council met in a study session on October 29, 2025, at 4:15 PM in the Council Chambers. The session focused on reviewing the upcoming city council agenda, discussing three major items: liquor license availability, the Spearfish Safety Action Plan, and the Clarion contract for zoning code review. The meeting also included departmental updates and public comment. The session adjourned at 5:12 PM.

Agenda Approval

The council unanimously approved the agenda as presented (motion by Rath, second by Myers).
Staff reviewed the draft agenda for the November 3, 2025, City Council meeting, including consent items, public hearings, and resolutions.

Discussion Items

Liquor Licenses: Finance Officer DeNeui led a discussion on the availability of two off-sale (package) liquor licenses and one on-off sale (bar) license. No bids were received during the previous round (minimums: $100,000 for package, $500,000 for on-sale). Feedback indicated interest at lower prices (e.g., $210,000–$225,000 for on-sale). The council directed staff to readvertise the licenses in mid-December with a bid opening in mid-January. A reduced minimum of $300,000 for the on-sale license was suggested and supported by the council.
Spearfish Safety Action Plan: Assistant Planning Director Ecker provided an update on the federally funded plan. Key points include: the city has received federal grant money for the plan and will apply for implementation funds in spring 2026; crash analysis (2020–2024) identified high injury networks on Colorado Boulevard/85 South, Main Street/North Avenue corridor, and part of Jackson Boulevard; community engagement (focus groups, pop-up at BHSU, online map) highlighted concerns about pedestrian crossings, speeding, and pavement markings. A crash evaluation memo will be posted next week. The next study session update in November will focus on project recommendations and vision/goals.
Clarion Contract: Ecker reviewed progress on the contract to identify pressing zoning and subdivision code issues. Focus group meetings and a survey for homebuilders and developers are underway. A draft memo identifying high-level issues has been reviewed by staff and returned to Clarion. The next step is to bring the memo to the Planning Commission for discussion, with council members invited to attend.

Departmental Discussion

Public Works Director Caron: Addressed public feedback on chip seal projects, noting they are cost-effective and will improve with time. Announced Colorado Boulevard widening is nearing completion (expected to open later that week). Also reported progress on a new water tank at Exit 17 and well house.
Parks and Recreation Director Ehnes: Reported on the successful skate park closeout process: contractor fixed identified cracks and spalling over three days, and a warranty amendment extended coverage to three years.
Planning and Zoning: Clarified that the plan review fee listed in OpenGov is actually a non-refundable deposit based on a percentage of the building permit fee. For residential permits, the deposit is being reduced from 65% to 35% (commercial remains 65%). This is an administrative change only.
City Attorney Knox: Noted a possible request on November 3 to extend the deadline for the snow committee's work (from November 12) to allow more public input.
Finance Officer DeNeui: Announced year-end budget adjustments and supplements will be presented at upcoming meetings; a stop-spending notice will be issued soon.
Parks and Recreation Director Ehnes: Announced that Game, Fish and Parks has given permission to design and engineer new trails near the disc golf area, adding more miles of trail for the community.

Key Outcomes

Liquor licenses: Council directed re-advertising in mid-December with a mid-January bid opening; a reduced minimum for the on-sale license (to $300,000) was supported.
Safety Action Plan: Staff to post crash evaluation memo next week; continued community engagement; November study session to present project recommendations and vision/goals.
Clarion Contract: Progress continues; memo will be presented to Planning Commission; council members may attend but must notify staff to avoid a quorum issue.
Plan review deposit: Administrative change reducing residential deposit to 35%; no change to commercial deposit.
Snow committee: Coordination transferred to Parks Director; first meeting set for this Friday.
Trails: Permission received to design trails near disc golf area.
Public comment: No comments received.

Meeting Transcript

Obviously, yeah. Oh, okay. All right. Good afternoon, everyone. Uh thank you for being so timely for tonight's study session. Um we have an agenda before us here at for the council to look at. Uh there's no changes from my end that I've heard of. Is there a motion to approve as presented? Move to approve. Second. We have a motion in the second. All in favor? Okay, the motion carries. Uh item two. We're going to take a quick review of next Monday night's uh city council meeting. So Michelle will pull that up on the screen and we'll roll through it briefly here. Go ahead. Michelle lets you start off. Sure. So under consent agenda, we have some minutes of the last study session and our last council meeting and study session that coordinate with that. Some new uh higher wages listed there for information only. Items from visitors will have mayor read a proclamation for the VFW Buddy Poppy Day in Spearfish. And then we'll hear from Heath Johnson and the Matthews Opera House. They have a request for a grant, uh matching grant and waiving of the building permit fees for their back exit stairwell reconstruction project. So there is information in the packet on that project that they're doing and the funds that they've raised for it. And then City Attorney, I'll turn it over. So we will have the uh um the uh purchase agreement associated with that, and then also the uh the resolution authorizing the transfer of the property to SEDC to facilitate transferring it out to uh Hillsy. Uh open container permit request now that we change the ordinances to allow open containers on publicly owned property. This is the official action for Black Hill State University's tailgate events that they have. Um so we'll have a public hearing or we'll have consideration of that application. There's just a few home games left. Um, but we'll dot our I's and cross our T's there. Um, we do also have a public hearing to consider an application from Emmett Rice Stoffer uh of Genesis Farms LLC. That's for the cannabis establishment license located at 320 26 street suite number five. This is the same location where we have the um GLP dispensaries, just the ownership within GLP dispensary has changed. So according to our ordinances, that license cannot stay. And so that license will be deemed void. The next one that's on the uh list. The only license that we have on the list is with Emmett Ricefer, which is involved with GLP currently. So it's just basically an organizational change behind the scenes, but it will be a new license for

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