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OPENPUBLICA · PUBLIC MEETING RECORD

Record of Proceedings

Spearfish City Council Study Session - February 25, 2026

City Council — Wednesday, February 25, 2026

BodySpearfish, South Dakota

SessionCity Council

DateWednesday, February 25, 2026

StatusFILED

Video Record

0:00 / 25:16

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

Speaker numbers apply only to this recording.

Speaker 1

0:52

Readers on.

0:54

Hello, Joel.

Speaker 2

1:48

This is what's going to happen.

Speaker 1

2:30

Good afternoon, everyone.

2:31

Welcome to tonight's uh study session as we get ready for next week's city council meeting on the second.

2:37

Um see we have an agenda before us.

2:40

Uh I don't have any changes to it.

2:42

Is there a motion to approve the study session agenda is presented, please?

Speaker 3

2:46

Move to approve.

2:47

Second,

Speaker 1

2:48

second.

2:50

We have a motion in a couple of seconds, so we're in good shape.

2:53

They're all in favor.

Speaker 3

2:54

I

Speaker 1

2:57

opposed.

3:01

Item two is to review the city council agenda for

Unassigned speaker

3:04

uh

Speaker 1

3:05

Monday, March 2nd.

3:06

So Michelle's got it.

3:07

I'm gonna get it pulled

Unassigned speaker

3:08

up.

Speaker 1

3:09

And then we'll uh so there's gonna be a change to that.

3:14

Uh let's see.

3:16

Item six is going to be added.

3:18

So mayor comments.

3:19

I was asked by uh citizen to respond to some questions that have been presented to me as the mayor.

3:25

So I'm working on um getting that presentation together, so I will be uh reading that prior to our uh public comment time frame.

3:34

So if people have questions, they well, they can't ask me questions, but they can respond, I guess, to my responses to their uh the to their ask for information.

3:43

So we'll do that before public comment next week.

3:47

Um, let's just go through it, Michelle.

3:52

Anything big on the consent agenda.

Speaker 4

3:55

Nope.

3:56

So starting off with our consent agenda, just our minutes for the last round of study session and city council meeting.

4:03

We have a volunteer to add to our uh insurance purposes for the fire department, and then we have several positions being uh filled.

4:13

Uh you'll see some of these are standard, uh our regular employees, and then we have seasonal positions.

4:20

So starting on the seasonal hiring string.

4:26

Um we also have two encroachment agreements.

4:29

One is for a sign at the Six Goats Tavern.

4:34

Um that's just down the street from us here at seven oh one North Fifth Street.

4:38

The other one is at the dolls at home museum at four thirty-five Meyer Avenue.

4:44

There's no uh financial impacts on these encroachment agreements, standard language that we use for all of them.

4:52

So we have those placed on the consent agenda

Unassigned speaker

4:55

for uh

Speaker 4

4:57

approval that way.

5:00

And then uh items from visitors, we'll hear from the Booth Society, a request for a sponsorship to waive the rental fee of the pavilion.

5:08

Um they're holding a benefit event on March 19th.

5:12

And then we have two proclamations that the mayor will read.

5:16

One is women's history month in Spearfish, the other one is International Women's Day in Sparefish as well.

5:22

We will have some groups here to accept those proclamations.

Unassigned speaker

5:28

Then

Speaker 5

5:28

for city attorney, we have on here uh an approval of an agreement between the city and the booth society, but that item will be pulled.

5:37

Uh I got an email from uh Booth Society just a little while ago.

5:41

There's still a couple of questions related to some of the language we've got in the contract.

5:45

So we're going to meet next Tuesday to talk those items through.

5:49

I don't think there's anything in there that's a non-starter.

5:52

It's not like this is going to uh fall through.

5:55

Uh this is primarily dealing with um the relationship between the city and the Booth Society, our support for them, our having um a liaison member on the board, and then also the exclusive use of the volunteer village for the Boo Society for their volunteers during the season.

6:12

Um, but there's just a couple uh aspects of it that we want some clarification on.

6:18

So uh we'll pull this from the agenda for Monday.

6:20

I'll meet with them on Tuesday and we'll bring it back shortly thereafter.

Discussion Breakdown — Share of Meeting

Public Engagement███████████████████████████████████████39%

Procedural████████████████████████████28%

Land Development██████████10%

Public Safety████████8%

Solid Waste Management████████8%

Parks and Recreation███████7%

Summary of Proceedings

Spearfish City Council Study Session - February 25, 2026

The Spearfish City Council held a study session on February 25, 2026, at 4:15 PM in City Council Chambers. This meeting prepared for the March 2, 2026 regular council meeting. Key topics included a proposal to charge residents for branch disposal, a development project at Elkhorn Ridge, and updates on the Booth Society agreement and city ordinances. No formal votes were taken on substantive items, but several items were deferred for further discussion.

Public Comments & Testimony

Joe Jorgensen (1905 Stage Barn Circle) expressed support for Councilmember Myers' position, stating that branch disposal at the Rubble Site was previously free and that a $30 charge for a small pickup load discourages residents from clearing branches. He urged the council to reconsider the fee policy.

Discussion Items

Branch Disposal Fee for Residents: Councilmember Myers raised concerns about charging Spearfish residents $5 per pickup load (approximately two cubic yards) for branch disposal at the Restricted Use Site. He argued that this fee discourages residents from trimming trees and cleaning up, citing a personal experience where it cost him $30. Public Works Director McMahon clarified the current rate of $5 per pickup load and noted that staff often do not charge for one or two branches. The council agreed to defer further discussion to the next study session.
Review of March 2, 2026 City Council Agenda: Staff reviewed the draft agenda. City Attorney Knox removed item 11A (Booth Society agreement) for revisions following questions from that organization. The Booth Society sponsorship request and proclamations for Women's History Month and International Women's Day will proceed. Community Development presented a development review for Elkhorn Ridge Phase 2, including 98 apartment units, 54 townhome lots, and 10 single-family lots, which had received planning commission approval. Parks board did not recommend city dedication of an on-site park space.
Council Retreat: Mayor Senden announced plans for a council retreat to discuss key upcoming decisions. Details on facilitator and scheduling will be developed.
Departmental Updates: Assistant Planning Director Ecker thanked the council for adopting the Safety Action Plan; staff are working on website posting and grant closeout, with potential implementation funding expected. Other ongoing projects include the Development Regulation Analysis and Engineering Standards and Specifications, with a joint council-planning commission meeting scheduled for March 17, 2026. Finance Officer DeNeui noted the Local Board of Equalization will meet March 16 at 5:00 PM followed by a council meeting at 5:30 PM, and assessment notices have been mailed with appeal instructions. City Attorney Knox stated that Ordinance 1415 (regarding 14-foot heights) will be brought back for a new first reading after modifications.

Key Outcomes

Deferred decisions: The branch disposal fee discussion will continue at the next study session to clarify council direction.
Agenda adjustments: The Booth Society agreement was pulled from the March 2 council agenda; it will be renegotiated and brought back later.
Ordinance 1415: Will be reintroduced as a new first reading after revisions.
Upcoming meetings: Joint session with planning commission on March 17, 2026; Local Board of Equalization on March 16, 2026.
Council retreat: To be scheduled; no public decisions will be made at the retreat.

Meeting Transcript

Readers on. Hello, Joel. This is what's going to happen. Good afternoon, everyone. Welcome to tonight's uh study session as we get ready for next week's city council meeting on the second. Um see we have an agenda before us. Uh I don't have any changes to it. Is there a motion to approve the study session agenda is presented, please? Move to approve. Second, second. We have a motion in a couple of seconds, so we're in good shape. They're all in favor. I opposed. Item two is to review the city council agenda for uh Monday, March 2nd. So Michelle's got it. I'm gonna get it pulled up. And then we'll uh so there's gonna be a change to that. Uh let's see. Item six is going to be added. So mayor comments. I was asked by uh citizen to respond to some questions that have been presented to me as the mayor. So I'm working on um getting that presentation together, so I will be uh reading that prior to our uh public comment time frame. So if people have questions, they well, they can't ask me questions, but they can respond, I guess, to my responses to their uh the to their ask for information. So we'll do that before public comment next week. Um, let's just go through it, Michelle. Anything big on the consent agenda. Nope. So starting off with our consent agenda, just our minutes for the last round of study session and city council meeting. We have a volunteer to add to our uh insurance purposes for the fire department, and then we have several positions being uh filled. Uh you'll see some of these are standard, uh our regular employees, and then we have seasonal positions. So starting on the seasonal hiring string. Um we also have two encroachment agreements. One is for a sign at the Six Goats Tavern. Um that's just down the street from us here at seven oh one North Fifth Street. The other one is at the dolls at home museum at four thirty-five Meyer Avenue. There's no uh financial impacts on these encroachment agreements, standard language that we use for all of them. So we have those placed on the consent agenda for uh approval that way. And then uh items from visitors, we'll hear from the Booth Society, a request for a sponsorship to waive the rental fee of the pavilion. Um they're holding a benefit event on March 19th. And then we have two proclamations that the mayor will read. One is women's history month in Spearfish, the other one is International Women's Day in Sparefish as well. We will have some groups here to accept those proclamations. Then

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