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Record of Proceedings

Spearfish City Council Study Session – July 1, 2026

City Council — Wednesday, July 1, 2026
BodySpearfish, South Dakota
SessionCity Council
DateWednesday, July 1, 2026
StatusFILED
Video Record
0:00 / 1:25:04

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

Speaker numbers apply only to this recording.

Speaker 1

9:53

Alright, uh good afternoon.

9:56

Good afternoon, everyone.

10:00

Thank you for attending tonight's study session.

10:02

I will uh go ahead and call this meeting to order.

10:04

Thanks for the conversation as we got ready to start the meeting tonight.

10:09

Before us tonight, council, we have a agenda to review.

10:12

I don't have any changes to the study session agenda.

10:15

Is there a motion to approve it as presenta, please?

Speaker 2

10:18

So

Unassigned speaker

10:21

we

Speaker 1

10:21

have a motion and a second, all in favor.

10:26

Okay.

10:27

Motion carries.

10:29

Good afternoon, Pam.

10:30

Good to hear you.

10:31

We will move on to item number two, review the city council agenda for Monday evening of July 6th.

Unassigned speaker

10:37

So

Speaker 1

10:38

Michelle will pull that up on the screen and we'll start to go through the review of

Unassigned speaker

10:41

it.

Speaker 3

10:43

Okay, we'll start off on our consent agenda.

10:45

We have minutes for the last three meetings, a special session, regular session of council, and our last study session, one volunteer for the rec center for work comp purposes.

Unassigned speaker

10:56

And

Speaker 3

10:56

then we have a temporary construction easement agreement that's between uh property owner in the city for the Mountain View Elementary Alley Waterline Project for the construction of that.

11:09

Added and adjusted wages as shown there.

11:16

And then I'll turn it over to community development.

Speaker 4

11:20

Council, good evening.

11:22

The first seven items are the public hearing and second reading of all the ordinances related to the engineering design standards.

11:31

So you've approved all those on first readings two weeks ago.

11:34

So these are the public hearings and second reading of those ordinances.

11:56

So that's where you do go forward.

11:58

Of course, it's a resolution, so only one hearing.

12:29

So any improvements, um updates uh need to be uh done uh through the encroachment permit.

12:35

They are also seeking to be allowed to place temporary seating in uh some of the parking stalls in front of the wine bar.

12:45

So when the weather's nice, uh one twice a week, they want to have ability to seat their patrons outside the wine bar.

12:54

Uh an item uh 10 D, you've seen these before.

12:58

It's a special uh or uh an exception to allow um the developers of the uh Stone Ridge Commons affordable housing project, tip number nine, uh, to be able to record uh the plat, creating the lot uh before the public improvements are completed.

13:20

Um they are in the process of submitting a financial assurance of about two million dollars for all the public infrastructure, which includes

Unassigned speaker

13:29

uh

Speaker 4

13:30

completing the loop between Paramount and Platinum.

Speaker 1

13:33

If

Speaker 2

13:34

you recall there was

Speaker 1

13:35

a loop that was to

Speaker 2

13:36

be completed,

Speaker 4

13:36

and I know you see these quite a bit uh lately.

13:40

I guess that's an indication that uh developers are preferring to file a financial assurance, get their lots recorded, uh so they can get in this case uh recording or creating the lot is critical for them to obtain uh funding, uh including uh a grant uh from Black Hills Area Community Foundation, because right now that lot doesn't exist, so no one's lending them or approving the grants until they have a legal description uh for that lot.

14:10

So this is by code.

14:11

Um they're not being deobligated from completing any improvements.

14:15

It simply changes the sequence of the process to allow them to record the plat, start construction

Unassigned speaker

14:23

of

Speaker 4

14:23

the public rights of way and uh of the project itself.

14:27

So those are the items from CD.

14:31

Okay.

14:32

Thank

Speaker 1

14:32

you, Peter.

Speaker 3

14:35

Okay.

14:35

Um, and I apologize that last item is not on the agenda posted online.

14:40

It must have been a late ad.

14:42

So um,

Unassigned speaker

14:43

but

Speaker 3

14:43

it'll be on Monday's agenda.

Discussion Breakdown — Share of Meeting
Miscellaneous██████████████████████████████████████████42%
Public Safety███████████████████████23%
Procedural██████████████████████22%
Parks and Recreation███████7%
Engineering And Infrastructure███3%
Community Engagement██2%
Transportation Safety█1%
Summary of Proceedings

Spearfish City Council Study Session Summary – July 1, 2026

The Spearfish City Council held a study session on Wednesday, July 1, 2026, beginning at 4:15 p.m. in the Council Chambers at City Hall. Mayor Senden presided. Council members Hafner, Jacobs, Klarenbeek, Myers, and Rath were present; Hourigan was absent. City staff present included Finance Officer DeNeui, Public Works Director McMahon, Community Development Director Wysocki, Police Chief Smith, Parks and Recreation Director McDonald, and Assistant Planning Director Ecker. The primary agenda items were a staff review of the July 6, 2026 City Council agenda, a presentation by the Spearfish Baseball Association (SBA) on a proposed indoor baseball facility, public comments, and a departmental discussion on motorized bike enforcement.

The council reviewed the draft agenda for the July 6, 2026, regular session, and staff responded to questions from council and residents.

Consent Calendar

  • Approved the agenda unanimously (motion by Myers, second by Klarenbeek) for the July 1 study session. Consent items on the July 6 agenda include: approval of minutes from three prior meetings, one volunteer for the rec center, a temporary construction easement agreement for the Mountain View Elementary Alley Waterline Project, and added/adjusted wages.

Public Comments & Testimony

  • Public comment was opened at 4:56 p.m. and closed at 5:04 p.m. Comments were received from:
    • Ryan Wordeman: Spoke on the proposed indoor baseball facility, the upcoming motorized bikes discussion for the July 6 meeting, and the Engineering Design Standards.
    • Joe Jorgensen: Commented on detention pond requirements for developers in the Engineering Design Standards.

Presentations & Reports

  • SBA Proposed Indoor Baseball Facility – Dave Donat, an SBA coach, presented the proposal for an indoor baseball training facility at the Black Hills Energy Sports Complex. The Spearfish Baseball Association (SBA) previously presented to the Parks, Recreation, and Forestry Advisory Board, which unanimously recommended approval at council. McDonald introduced Donat; no additional board discussion is recorded in the minutes.

Departmental Discussion

  • Motorized Bikes – Police Chief Smith reviewed the SPD enforcement approach for motorized bikes in Spearfish, along with applicable South Dakota Codified Law. Smith noted technology is advancing faster than the law can keep up; officers have held internal training on enforcement and education of drivers and parents is ongoing.

Public Comment

  • Ryan Wordeman and Joe Jorgensen provided comments during the public comment period. Wordeman commented on the proposed indoor baseball facility, the upcoming discussion on motorized bikes at the July 6th meeting, and the Engineering Design Standards. Jorgensen commented on detention pond requirements for developers in the Engineering Design Standards. No further comments were received.

Key Outcomes

  • No formal votes were taken on the proposals, as this was a study session.
  • The council reviewed the July 6 agenda and heard the SBA presentation.
  • Public comment was opened and closed. The next meeting is July 6, 2026.

Meeting Transcript

Alright, uh good afternoon. Good afternoon, everyone. Thank you for attending tonight's study session. I will uh go ahead and call this meeting to order. Thanks for the conversation as we got ready to start the meeting tonight. Before us tonight, council, we have a agenda to review. I don't have any changes to the study session agenda. Is there a motion to approve it as presenta, please? So we have a motion and a second, all in favor. Okay. Motion carries. Good afternoon, Pam. Good to hear you. We will move on to item number two, review the city council agenda for Monday evening of July 6th. So Michelle will pull that up on the screen and we'll start to go through the review of it. Okay, we'll start off on our consent agenda. We have minutes for the last three meetings, a special session, regular session of council, and our last study session, one volunteer for the rec center for work comp purposes. And then we have a temporary construction easement agreement that's between uh property owner in the city for the Mountain View Elementary Alley Waterline Project for the construction of that. Added and adjusted wages as shown there. And then I'll turn it over to community development. Council, good evening. The first seven items are the public hearing and second reading of all the ordinances related to the engineering design standards. So you've approved all those on first readings two weeks ago. So these are the public hearings and second reading of those ordinances. So that's where you do go forward. Of course, it's a resolution, so only one hearing. So any improvements, um updates uh need to be uh done uh through the encroachment permit. They are also seeking to be allowed to place temporary seating in uh some of the parking stalls in front of the wine bar. So when the weather's nice, uh one twice a week, they want to have ability to seat their patrons outside the wine bar. Uh an item uh 10 D, you've seen these before. It's a special uh or uh an exception to allow um the developers of the uh Stone Ridge Commons affordable housing project, tip number nine, uh, to be able to record uh the plat, creating the lot uh before the public improvements are completed. Um they are in the process of submitting a financial assurance of about two million dollars for all the public infrastructure, which includes uh completing the loop between Paramount and Platinum. If you recall there was a loop that was to be completed, and I know you see these quite a bit uh lately. I guess that's an indication that uh developers are preferring to file a financial assurance, get their lots recorded, uh so they can get in this case uh recording or creating the lot is critical for them to obtain uh funding, uh including uh a grant uh from Black Hills Area Community Foundation, because right now that lot doesn't exist, so no one's lending them or approving the grants until they have a legal description uh for that lot. So this is by code. Um they're not being deobligated from completing any improvements. It simply changes the sequence of the process to allow them to record the plat, start construction of the public rights of way and uh of the project itself.

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