2026-11-02 - City Council

Good evening and welcome to the city

council meeting for Monday, November

2nd, 2026. We will begin with a roll

call and determination of quorum.

>> Lehman

Maher

>> Here.

>> Roberts

>> Here.

>> Strawman

>> Here.

>> Armstrong

>> Here.

>> Seacrest

>> Here.

>> Beaverdor

>> Here.

>> Tamang

>> Here.

>> Evans

>> Here.

>> Meyer

>> Here.

>> We have a quorum.

>> Uh thank you. Next we'll have an

invocation by [name removed]

followed by the pledge of allegiance. If

you are able and willing, would you

please rise?

>> Let's pray.

God, we want to first thank you for the

rain.

We need it. Thank you, Lord. Thank you

for this time we get to to look at all

the stuff we get to resolve. Lord, I

pray that you'll give wisdom and

discernment to the leaders.

Lord, help us to be the city that you've

uh wanted us to be.

So, whatever problems arise, Lord,

whatever is out there, uh give

foresight, uh give understanding, uh

give opportunity, and give resources,

Lord. But, we just pray that you'll

bless this city, bless this meeting. May

you be glorified. Amen.

>> I pledge allegiance to the flag of the

United States of America, and to the

republic for which it stands, one nation

under God, indivisible, with liberty and

justice for all.

>> Thank you. Before we move on to the

adoption of the agenda, a couple of

notes from me. Uh first of all, tomorrow

is election day. Encourage everybody to

get out and vote. Uh also,

it's been a it's been a

a hectic week uh for public safety as it

is each and every week with our police

and fire, and we have amazing city staff

all throughout the city, but I want to

just uh send a special thank you to our

police department this week. Uh

A lot of heavy situations, but the

responsiveness, the quick action,

uh and resolution has been outstanding

as always. Uh Chief Hedrick, on behalf

of the city council myself, uh please uh

give a thank you uh to your folks in the

police department. We're so grateful for

what they do each and every day.

They go to work not knowing what's going

to happen, and of course we pray for

their safety returning home each and

every night. And so, we don't take that

for granted in Rapid City. I encourage

our citizens,

when you see uh

a police officer or law enforcement

officer anywhere, thank them.

Uh

show gratitude. Um

they serve us, the public, but they do

it

you know, it's it's a it's a tough job.

And uh

but they do it willfully uh and with

excellence. So, we are very, very

grateful for them

and everyone who serves the city. And

so, um

appreciate that and appreciate you

giving me an opportunity here to to

give a little shout-out. Uh

So, with that, I will um

look for a motion to adopt the agenda.

>> So moved.

>> Second.

>> Okay, we got a motion by uh was it Sea

Chris and a second by Toomey to adopt

the agenda. All in favor?

>> Aye.

>> Any opposed?

The motion is adopted. Well, I get to

talk again because we have mayor's items

with item one, uh we will confirm the

appointment of Scott Anderson as

director of the Rapid City Parks and

Recreation Department and authorize

mayor and finance director to sign the

employment contract.

Um

First, I'll entertain a motion.

>> So moved.

>> Second.

>> Okay, we got a motion by Roberts with a

second by Meyer

to confirm the appointment. All in

favor?

>> Aye.

>> Any opposed?

That motion is confirmed. I want to say

this real quick before we move on to

item two.

Uh

Scott has served the city uh with

dedication and excellence for many

years.

Uh we had a lot of interest in this

position, and uh excellent people who

applied. Thank you to everybody, but

Scott earned it. This is what I've told

him all along. He worked hard.

Uh

with any job, you are interviewing for

that job long before you have an

interview. So, for the past, you know,

17 years, I think you've been with the

city, you've been interviewing for this

job and getting ready. Of course, he

comes highly recommended. Um

we appreciate our Parks and Recreation

Department.

And these are jobs that only come around

every so often and we of course have our

long time director [name removed] recently

retired in the audience to show support

for Scott. So Scott, uh you deserve

this. I have no doubt you're going to

serve this community with dedication,

service, and excellence, as well as

integrity. Um we all love our park

systems here and we know you'll be a

great steward of it. So, congratulations

once again. So, we have your

confirmation and uh I think we'll go to

item two next or do we do this first

one, Daniel?

Do you want to do our business?

Yeah, we'll let's go ahead and do number

two.

Oh.

We'll get the we looks like just looking

at the way it's written here.

So, number two is the swearing in of

Scott Anderson as director of the Rapid

City Parks and Recreation Department

effective 2 26, but I don't think we

have to take action on that, do do we?

Okay. It's just written funny here. So.

All right. So, Daniel is our finance

director is going to administer the oath

and Scott will come forward.

>> If you would raise your right hand and

repeat after me.

I, state your name.

>> I, Scott Anderson.

>> Solemnly swear.

>> Solemnly Solemnly swear.

>> That I will support and defend.

>> That I will support and defend.

>> The Constitution of the United States.

>> The Constitution of the United States.

>> And the Constitution of the state of

South Dakota.

>> The Constitution of the state of South

Dakota.

>> Against all enemies.

>> Against all enemies.

>> Foreign and domestic.

>> Foreign and domestic.

>> That I will bear true faith.

>> That I will bear true faith.

>> And allegiance to the same.

>> And allegiance to the same.

>> That I take this obligation freely.

>> That I take this obligation freely.

>> Without any mental reservation.

>> Without any mental reservation.

>> Or for the purpose of evasion.

>> Or for the purpose of evasion.

>> That I will faithfully.

>> That I will faithfully.

>> And impartially.

>> And impartially.

>> Perform the duties.

>> Perform the duties.

>> As the director.

>> as the director

>> of the office of parks and recreation

>> of the office of parks and recreation

>> Rapid City, South Dakota

>> Rapid City, South Dakota

>> according to the law

>> according to the law

>> and to the best of my ability.

>> and to the best of my ability.

>> So help me God.

>> So help me God.

>> Congratulations.

>> I did have a little speech thrown out,

but I don't

>> Yep.

>> Thank you, Mayor. Thanks to the hiring

committee and and the council for this

opportunity.

Like I said, I've been with parks for

uh

17 and 1/2 years, and it's really dear

to me.

I wouldn't be here

Tonight's about me, but I wouldn't be

here without

the super super people I have working

under me.

Our Our parks and rec staff is so good,

so knowledgeable, so passionate.

Um

it's when you go to the meetings and

just seeing how good these people are,

it just makes my my This job is going to

be that much easier just by

the the people I have underneath me.

One thing

one question in the interview process

that brought I brought up a couple times

is

was um

being from that an internal candidate,

what What am I going to change or what

What am I going to do different?

I got to thinking about that after I I'm

sure I made up some answer for the

committee, but

thinking about it

internally, um

I don't think I'm going to change much.

I'm I'm the same person that I've been

my whole career. I'm I'm going to be

I'm going to be involved. I'm going to

be

You to go to. I'm going to be I have my

door open for anybody.

Doing my best to

move things along.

One quick story that that the change

reminded me of.

I

did a

talk with the Rotary Club

earlier this year and

it was like a 7:00 meeting, 7:30 meeting

in the morning. So, I was getting

prepared. I went to the office first and

getting all my stuff ready and

jumped in my pickup and had to get over

to the meeting and

on my playlist

Eric Clapton song came on, Change the

World.

Remember that song?

I got to thinking about it and

did my spiel up there for the club and

towards the end I got to thinking about

it and

said, "You know what? I I should change

the motto for Parks and Rec."

So, Parks and Rec, we're not out to

change the world. We're just trying to

make it a better place to play.

>> Very nice.

>> Thank you, everybody.

>> Congratulations, Scott.

I like Scott's quote there. He said,

"I'm not here to change the world. We're

just here to make it a

better place to play." That's very nice.

All right. Uh now we will move on to

general public comment, a time for

members of the public to discuss or

express concerns to the council on any

issue not on the agenda. Action will not

be taken at the meeting on any issue not

on the agenda except by placement on the

agenda by unanimous vote of the council

members present. I do have several

speaker request forms for general public

comment. Have us some other items uh

that have speaker requests later on, but

for general comment, we will begin with

the first speaker.

[Public comment redacted: the speaker urged the City to ensure its contractors comply with state open-records law and called for a state Office of Inspector General.]

>> Okay. Next up, the next speaker.

[Public comment redacted: the speaker thanked the City and others for a quick fix to access problems at a polling location during street construction, and thanked a Councilor for attention to e-bikes on the public bike path.]

>> Okay. Next up, the next speaker.

[Public comment redacted: the speaker objected to moving general public comment to the end of the agenda and raised concerns about data center and large power and water users, citing state law on water as a public trust.]

>> Okay. Next up, the next speaker.

[Public comment redacted: the speaker asked for balanced public information on data center environmental effects and water use, and urged a public vote or moratorium.]

>> And that will conclude general public

comment and we will move on to

non-public hearing items,

excuse me, 3 through 43

and open the public comment for items 3

through 37. I have one speaker request

[Public comment on item 21 redacted: the speaker opposed moving general public comment to the end of the agenda, citing the open meetings law and public participation, and suggested other ways to manage disruptive comment.]

>> Thank you, sir. So, that will conclude

the non-public hearing items

open public comment for item 3 through

37. So, we will close the public comment

and move on to consent items 3 through

37. Would the council like to remove any

item for separate consideration?

Counselor Lehman.

>> Thank you, Mayor. Item 10 and item 14.

>> All right. Counselor Meyer.

>> Thank you, Mayor. 29, please.

>> Counselor Armstrong.

>> Uh numbers 18 and 21, please.

>> Okay, I will entertain a motion to

approve items 3 through 37 with the

exception of 10, 14, 18, 21, and 29.

>> So moved.

>> Got a motion by Armstrong with a second

by Meyer to approve. All in favor?

>> Aye.

>> Any opposed? Motion carries.

Item 10, authorize staff to purchase one

M15 concrete mixer tandem axle trailer

from

Cement Tech uh using Sourcewell contract

number 060122-CMT. Estimated amount of

$160,065.54 based on estimated freight

cost for use by the streets division.

Counselor Lehman.

>> Thank you, Mayor. At the request of

public works, I'd like to make a motion

to table this item.

>> Second.

>> Okay, got a motion by Lehman to table

with the second by Tamang. All in favor?

>> Aye.

>> Any opposed?

It is tabled. Uh next, we'll move on to

item 14, deny a request by [applicant and owner names removed] for a

variance to waive the requirements to

install sidewalk along Pioneer Drive as

required by 16.16.050 of the Rapid City

Municipal Code. Counselor Lehman, you

pulled this item.

>> Thank you, Mayor. At the request of

[name omitted], he had a couple comments on

this item, so I pulled it for him.

>> All right. With that, we'll go to to the

city engineer, uh [name omitted].

>> All right. Thank you, Mayor. Uh thank

you, Councilman Lehman. Uh

after reviewing this application, uh

we have determined that we should

recommend approval of this variance.

I'd like to note the applicant is in the

audience and he does have some pictures

if there is interest in him hearing it.

>> Okay, we have one

counselor in the queue, counselor Maher.

>> Yes, I I want to approve this variance.

If you looked at the maps, you looked at

the neighborhood it's been there for 50

years. There's a significant number of

homes on that street there's no sidewalk

on that street. So, it would just be

putting a burden on this one lot.

It would run into the neighbor's bush

and they don't have any sidewalks. So,

it's just at some point we have to use

some common sense. We just can't say we

got to put sidewalks everywhere because

you can go some of the most expensive

homes in Rapid City and there's no

sidewalks. So, you can't put them

everywhere, but to put a sidewalk

from nowhere to nowhere is just is just

not fair to the owners. Thank you.

>> Counselor to me.

Oh, nothing. There you go.

>> Happy to chime in, sir.

I I appreciate the argument. I've I've

really it might be shocking, but I

didn't know much about sidewalk

variances until I got on council. It was

a new field to understand and looking

into it and

you know, one of our predecessors, [name removed], he was very passionate about

it. He talked to me about it a lot and

I'm the kind of person likes to go deep

into deep into things. And it you're

right when you when you build a sidewalk

that doesn't connect any other

sidewalks, you have to question well,

that doesn't make any sense. But then,

if you extrapolate that logic, you'll

end up with giant, gaping holes in your

public walking pedestrian

infrastructure. which is why some of the

nicest houses and neighborhoods don't

have sidewalks, which is if you look at

about a dozen surveys across the last

decade or so it continually ranks as a

major problem and a health issue. So,

I I support the denial of this. I

appreciate the argument, but I support

the denial of this and will continue to

be an advocate for uh public pedestrian

infrastructure. Thank you.

>> Councilor Roberts.

>> Thank you very much.

I just want to make a motion to

approve the request by [applicant]

um

to waive the requirement to install the

sidewalk.

>> Okay, we've got a motion by Roberts and

I think a second by Maher. Thank you.

Or Layman, excuse me. They're laughing

at each other. So, I must have misheard

it.

Old man Air Force hearing aids over

here. All right.

Floor's back to you, Mr. Roberts, if you

need it.

Okay. So, the motion on the floor is to

approve with a motion by Roberts, second

by Layman. All in favor?

>> Aye.

>> Any opposed?

>> Aye.

>> Well,

see my hearing is a little rough. I I I

know the ayes have it, but I don't know

who said what. So,

[clerk], let's do a good old-fashioned

roll call, please.

>> Layman.

>> Aye.

>> Maher.

>> Aye.

>> Roberts.

>> Aye.

>> Strowman.

>> Aye.

>> Armstrong.

>> Aye.

>> Seacrest.

>> Aye.

>> Bieberdorf.

>> No.

>> Tamang.

>> Nay.

>> Evans.

>> Aye.

>> Meyer.

>> Nay.

>> Motion passes 7 to 3.

>> Okay, thank you.

Allowed three. Guys kind of confused me

a little bit. So,

All right. Now, we go to item 18,

approve the city's employee discipline

policy and remove employee discipline

selection from the employee handbook.

Councilor Armstrong, you pulled this

item.

>> I want to start by saying I support

updating the city employee discipline

policy, but I've got three concerns and

I have three questions. So, my first

concern

uh different departmental needs. The

city is not a one-size-fits-all

organization and our our departments

have very different responsibilities,

operational demands, and regulatory

requirements. The policy needs to

recognize those differences. Consistency

does not mean identical application.

Second, uh decision-making authority.

I'd like some clarification about the

roles of HR and departmental leadership.

HR should provide guidance and ensure

compliance and consistency, but the

departmental directors need appropriate

authority to manage their own employees

and be accountable for their own

departments.

Third, timeliness. The policy should

establish clear timelines for HR review

and recommendations.

Delays in disciplinary decisions can

undermine accountability, particularly

in departments where employee conduct

directly impacts public safety and

regulatory compliance. So, my three

questions for our HR director is one,

what prompted this action? Two, have all

of our departmental directors and the

supervisors had an opportunity to review

the proposed policy and provide input

and feedback? And thirdly, when HR and a

departmental director disagree on a

disciplinary action,

who makes the final decision?

>> Okay, with the answer to those

questions, we'll go to HR director [name omitted].

>> Yes, thank you. This is one of many

policies that we've taken the effort to

remove from the employee handbook. The

handbook is very outdated and it's

difficult to point employees to a

certain part of it when you have to say,

"Go to page 11, third paragraph down."

So, we've been making a concerted effort

to create stand-alone policies. And in

doing that, we're updating them for

legal compliance, making sure that

they're thorough, detailed, and have the

right amount of information in them.

That's sometimes lacking in the current

handbook.

Into your question about, "Is it

department director HR when there's a

matter?" I would say the policy says

that supervisors need to consult with

HR. And the reason for that is because

we do have that bird's-eye view of the

whole city to be able to look across for

consistency where a director in one

department only knows what's happened in

their department. So, we definitely help

with that consistency piece. But also,

we loop in the city attorney's office

anytime we get to a substantial level of

discipline that could lead to

termination. So, I would say it's a

collaborative effort, but ultimately it

is the department director who has the

call on what to do. But we will

absolutely make recommendations for what

we think needs to happen.

And I have forgot your third question.

I'm sorry.

>> It's a good thing I wrote it down.

Third question.

Oh, the third question was the

disciplinary action.

Oh, did they did everybody have input?

>> No, this has been taken from what's in

the handbook today and then worked on

within HR and with the attorney's

office. It's very similar to the current

language, but it just builds on it. So,

for example, the current handbook

language lists the type of discipline,

but there's been a lot of confusion

because people think that you have to

follow them in sequential order. This

policy clarifies that you don't have to

do them in sequential order. There's a

lot of confusion around what's a verbal

warning and if it's a verbal warning,

why does there have to be documentation?

So, this policy clarifies documented

discussion instead of using the

terminology of verbal warning. So, it's

really what's in the policy today, but

again,

more detailed for hopefully better

clarity from all employees.

>> Great. Thank you for that explanation. I

yield.

>> Okay, looking for a motion.

Motion by Tamang with a second by Sea

Chris to approve. All in favor?

Any opposed?

>> Nay.

>> Motion carries with one nay from

Counselor Evans.

Item 21, approve resolution number

2026-084, a resolution revising the

order of business for city council

meetings. Counselor Armstrong, you

pulled this item, ma'am.

>> Thank you.

Um listening to a public comment this

evening, I also received some emails and

phone calls on this.

Um

I don't think that this was brought

forward as a matter of disrespect to our

constituents.

Uh the intentional barrier, I don't

think that was the reason why we are

doing this. I really in my heart of

hearts think this is just a matter of

streamlining business so we can do what

we need to do up here. However, um

my concern is

if

there's public comment at the end of the

agenda and we've already voted on

something, will we have the power to go

back

and change our minds?

>> It will be an agenda item.

>> It's

To to correct that, Counselor Evans was

pointing at Uh this is just for general

public comment, not for comments before

the agenda item. So, people are here for

to do business with the city for items

from what I understand and this is what

the council will determine, they will

still speak before their items

presented. It's just the general public

comment that's moved to the end.

According to the ordinance.

>> Okay. So, we're not going to take action

on something and then

>> excuse me.

>> Okay. So,

>> Yes. It's not out of order.

>> was some clarification that was needed.

Um

secondly, I was thinking if that was the

case, um we do have people that have

barriers getting here, mobility,

transportation. It's now getting dark,

people don't want to drive at night. Um

at one time, I think about 6 years ago,

we had a opportunity or an option to

provide online public comment, which

could be part of the record and I

thought that might work as a compromise.

Um and I would feel a little more

comfortable if somebody could

um submit an email with their public

comment and then it would be part of the

record. Um and lastly,

I think that's it. So, those are my

concerns. I'll yield.

>> All right, Counselor Evans, you're up

next.

>> Yeah, I just want to point out that this

is not an attempt to squelch anybody's

speaking about anything, but if you go

back 200 years, well, 190 right now,

um Robert's Rules were first introduced

in the US Army. They were published

sometime later for the general people,

but it was done to assist the assembly

to accomplish the work for which they

was were intended. And as far as I can

see, uh general public comments are new

business, and if you follow Robert's

Rules, they're new business. They should

come after we finish everything that's

on our agenda, and we get our work done

for the day.

And if it's really important, people

will hang around and speak.

And so I think this is a good move. I

don't know why it was ever done the

other way in the first place because

technically it does not follow the

Robert's Rules order. So I just want to

point that out. Thank you.

>> Next up, we'll go to Counselor

Bieberdorf.

>> Thanks. Um I'm going to speak against

it. Um I won't vote for it. I think um

you're you're changing the whole way

that business has been conducted truly

for us ourselves from a few nefarious

players that we don't want to hear each

night. So we're a government of the

people, by the people, for the people. I

think people have the right to come

down, express their opinions, right,

wrong, or indifferent. Um and that's why

we're here to listen to them. So to

penalize somebody, put them all the way

at the meeting, nobody knows the

meeting's going to end at 8:00, 9:00.

Nobody knows when that's going to be. So

it's really just a hindrance to the

people that want to come speak. And

you're you're you're you're changing the

whole meeting

to

take care of a couple people that you

don't want to hear. So I'm going to

speak against it and vote against it.

>> Next up, Counselor Maher.

>> Uh

well, I will support this move

because I think as been said, Bill said

it,

um we are in we are coming to the

council meeting to do the business of

the city with the people. The people who

will spend weeks getting something on

the agenda, they should take priority

over somebody who wants to get up and

just talk about something that's not on

the agenda. I do I'm fine with sitting

here until 11:00 at night listening to

people talk about items, general public

comment, but let's do the city's

business first. Thank you.

Okay. Next up, Council Attorney.

>> Thank you, Mr. Mayor. Um I made the

comment in uh

the committee level that really the goal

is to try to create the environment that

allows the most efficient mechanisms by

which people can communicate. Um and I

think when you kind of tally it up

anecdotally, the majority of speakers do

come uh to the uh meetings to speak on

items as opposed to general and and

therefore it kind of makes sense.

I have to admit though uh tonight I was

influenced by what one of the speakers

said. Uh the speaker's name escapes me, but it you know the the principle of the

idea is that people should be allowed to

speak um even when they may or may not

add to specific items. And the one thing

we do lose by adopt by this is there is

I've never seen it happen, um but there

is an opportunity for the council to

adopt whatever they're saying to put on

the agenda um at an earlier time, too.

So, that would be something every other

item would get talked about beforehand.

So, um I was

I am going to oppose this as well

tonight. Thank you.

>> Okay, I have no other speaker requests

uh from the councils. [clerk], I'd like to

go to a roll call vote on this issue,

please.

Oh.

Actually, no, I don't. I just

I just make things up apparently. Do we

In fact, let me read this in. If I Did I

read this in already? I did. I read it

in. So, I just need a motion.

>> Motion to approve. Second.

>> All right, we got a motion by Roberts

with a second by Stroman to approve

before we go to the roll call, Council

Stroman would like to speak.

>> Thank you, Mayor. I just like to

reiterate um

what some of my colleagues have said um

and

point out that if you read the

resolution, it talks about um

being a more efficient meeting when

we're here to do the the people's

business.

And um

we are not

um

pre-preventing anyone from speaking.

I mean, they they have the opportunity

to speak, but required by statute to

have public comment. It doesn't say

when or how much time. All the statute

says is that um

we have the discretion to limit public

comment as to the time allowed for each

topic commented on and as the total time

allowed for public comment. Um we're not

allowed to just eliminate it altogether,

but I think the 3 minutes has been

um which we're going to continue to have

for general public comment has been

approved or um is generally used in

most of the

um municipalities. I know in Sioux

Falls,

um I looked up their agenda, and their

agenda is to have general public comment

at the last item on the on the agenda so

they can get the

specific items of business

um completed before we have that. So,

I'm going to support this.

>> Okay.

Uh with that, we'll go back to [clerk] for

the roll call.

>> Lyman

>> Aye.

>> Maher

>> Aye.

>> Roberts

>> Aye.

>> Strommen

>> Aye.

>> Armstrong

>> No.

>> Seacrest

>> Aye.

>> Bieberdorf

>> No.

>> Tameang

>> Aye.

>> Evans

>> Aye.

>> Meyer

>> Aye.

>> Motion passes 7-3.

>> Okay, thank you.

Uh next, we'll move on to item 29,

approve allocation of 500,000 from

infrastructure contingency for Main

Street Square improvements uh for the

2027 budget. Councilor Meyer, you pulled

this item, ma'am.

>> I'd like to abstain. Thank you.

>> Duly noted.

Motion by Lyman with a second by Maher

to approve. All in favor?

Any opposed? Motion passes with one

abstention from Meyer.

That takes us to the end of the consent

items, and we will move on to

non-consent items 38 through 43 and open

public comment for items 38 through 43.

I have no speaker request forms. So, we

will close the public comment and move

on to item 38. Second reading of

ordinance number 6754, an ordinance

regarding supplemental appropriation 5

for 2026 in the amount of $6,131,686.58.

Motion by Roberts with a second by Meyer

to approve. All in favor?

Any opposed? Motion carries.

Item 39, first reading of ordinance

number 6758, an ordinance amending title

2 of the Rapid City Municipal Code to

move the Community Enrichment Division

to the Department of Finance.

Motion by Roberts with a second by

Meyer. All in favor?

Any opposed? Motion carries. Item 40,

first reading of ordinance number 6755,

an ordinance amending section 17.06 of

the Rapid City Municipal Code, a request

by [applicant] for a rezoning request

from low-density residential district 1

to mobile home residential district for

property generally described as being

located at Garden Lane.

Motion by Roberts with a second by

Lyman. All in favor?

Any opposed? Motion carries. Item 41,

first reading of Ordinance Number 6756,

an ordinance amending Section 17.06 of

the Rapid City Municipal Code, a request

by [applicant]

for rezoning request from General

Commercial District to Light Industrial

District for property generally

described as being located northwest of

the intersection of Homestead Street and

Elk Vale Road.

Motion by Sea Chris with a second by

Meyer to approve. All in favor?

Any opposed? Motion carries.

Item 42, a request by [applicant] for a

preliminary subdivision plan for

proposed lots 2 through 4 of Deadwood

Storage Division Subdivision, generally

described as being located between

Deadwood Avenue North and Interstate 90.

The recommendation is to approve the

stipulations.

Motion by Lehman, second by Roberts to

approve the stipulations. All in favor?

Any opposed?

Motion carries. Item 43, approve, deny,

or continue the attached 2027 alcohol

beverage license renewals.

Roberts says to approve. We got a second

by Evans.

All in favor?

Any opposed?

Motion carries. That takes us to the

public hearing items 44 through 48. We

will hope open the public hearings for

items 44 through 58. I do have one

speaker request form

[Applicant statement redacted: the applicant described the business, its family-oriented use, and the reasons for seeking the video lottery license, and asked whether the license could be handled in another way.]

>> All right.

Uh would the council like to remove any

item for second separate or we'll close

the public hearing. with a council like

to move any item for separate

consideration. Councilor too many you

were chiming in. Look

like Evans beat you. Look at that.

Councilor Evans.

>> I just need an explanation of number 44.

>> pull let's pull 44.

>> Yeah.

>> Okay, and

it looks like that's what everybody was

going to do.

Uh so I will entertain a motion to

approve item 45.

Motion by Meyer.

So the second by Sea Chris.

>> Yep.

>> All right, all in favor?

Any opposed? Motion carries. So we'll go

back to item 44. Uh Breakroom Billiards

and Darts LLC doing business as

Breakroom Billiards and Darts, 11th

Street for retail on off-sale malt

beverage and South Dakota farm wine

with video lottery transfer from [transferor removed], 5th Street. This item was

continued from the October 19th, 2026

City Council meeting. We will start with

Finance Director Daniel Ainslie for an

explanation.

>> Thank you very much, Mr. Mayor. Um, and

we do fully appreciate that this is a

very, uh, strange request, I think,

which is also why we wanted to bring it

to the council; because, as far as any

of the staff members are aware, we've

never received this sort of request

before, and so we want to, uh, receive

some policy direction from the council,

um, before proceeding with something

like this. The original request was for

a the video lottery component of the

liquor license to be transferred to the

uh malt beverage license that is at the

same facility. That way

uh the current owners would be able to

sell the malt beverage license with a

video lottery license to one individual,

and then sell the liquor license um

separately to another.

However,

um

originally we did discuss this uh via

email with uh Department of Revenue as

well as Lottery. It appeared that they

had no

Um later on they did. uh Um

it sounded like potentially there was

some additional nuance and that's why we

asked you to continue it 2 weeks ago.

With that being said, the city attorney,

myself, as well as some other staff

members from um

the uh finance department had a lengthy

conversation with the lottery uh to

understand this in more detail.

We are not able to separate a video

lottery license from a liquor license.

That is always attached to a liquor

license. With that being said, someone

who has a liquor license does not

necessarily have to apply for or use a

video video lottery license. However,

that's always something that is attached

to that video lottery. So, you're not

able to actually transfer that

um video lottery license from one

from a liquor license to another alcohol

license. So, instead, what the council

could do

is um attach a new

video lottery license to the existing

malt beverage license that is at [business].

However, our existing ordinance, um

which is voluntary,

um

this was an ordinance that the council

passed that you're authorized to pass

via state statute, but state statute

does not require that.

But, the city's current ordinance says

anytime the city has a video lottery

license available that it's supposed to

uh be distributed via a a lottery. Um

that uh there would be a $1,000

application. Everyone who's interested

pays $1,000. However many people apply,

um

it ends up raising us fairly significant

amount of uh funds for the city's

general fund.

And so, if the city council were to

authorize us, you would not actually

authorize a transfer from the liquor

license to the malt beverage. Instead,

you would be authorizing a

one of the city's available video

lottery licenses. You would be attaching

that to an existing malt beverage

license and foregoing the lottery.

Sorry, I keep saying that twice, but uh

foregoing the

the drawing that should be done

according to our ordinance. And so, in

effect, um

you're violating the ordinance and

you're also reducing the revenue that

would be available to the municipality.

I hope that makes sense.

Sorry.

>> Unless you did that.

>> All right, so stand by. We got one at

one one at a time, please. Uh

we'll go back to Finance Director Daniel

Ainslie.

And then we'll move on to Council

Armstrong after that. If you want to get

in the queue, please chime in.

>> Thank you. I'm sorry. Um

regarding your question about how it it

would affect the

the I guess payment that's already been

made.

We're not sure with that. Um

statute says specifically that it is not

a

Sorry, Carla. I'm going to use the

incorrect word, but it's not a

transferable asset. I I don't think it's

asset, but it's not a transferable

um

item

that can be transferred from one entity

to another. Lottery did acknowledge that

that occurs. However, it's not a

guarantee that if I have a malt beverage

license with video lottery and I were to

sell it to another individual,

it's not a guarantee that

the city would authorize it or that

lottery would end up um

approving it. Thank you.

And so, as far as any payments that have

already been made between the two

entities,

the city's not a part of that and we're

not

I don't know, Carla, a better way to say

it, but

that's not a

a city action that we were a part of.

>> Okay.

Uh we'll go to Council Armstrong.

>> Okay, thank you. Uh I want to first

thank the applicant for showing up and

coming to public comment. Thank you to

Director Ainslie for postponing this for

2 weeks so I can do a little bit of a

deeper dive. I did reach out to the

office of the South Dakota Lottery and I

want to read this what I received so

it's on the on public record. So,

apparently

uh through South Dakota Codified Law

42-7A-64, a municipality cannot remove

video lottery author ization from an

on-sale liquor license. If Rapid City

were to allow an additional on-sale malt

beverage license to receive video

lottery authorization,

the city would effectively be meeting

its new limit without going through the

video lottery drawing process. South

Dakota Lottery does not have the

authority to determine how Rapid City

chooses to handle its alcohol licensing

structure as it applies to video lottery

establishments. A video lottery

establishment license cannot be sold,

transferred, or maintained as a

standalone asset without corresponding

on-sale alcohol license attached. Video

lottery establishment licenses are

non-transferable. The Breakroom would

still need to apply for and receive

approval for an establishment license to

place machines assuming they received

the necessary RB/VL authorization from

the City of Rapid City. So, my question

to our city attorney is should we

approve this? Is this legal? And then my

question to Director Ainslie is are we

losing any revenue from this? And I will

defer to them. Thank you.

>> Let's first go to city attorney Carla

Cushman.

>> Thank you.

Um

I'm going to echo something that Daniel

said a minute ago. Our ordinance

provides a a specific way for us to for

us for you all for the council to issue

new video lottery licenses connected

with um malt beverage licenses, and

that's through it's called a drawing,

but it is a raffle.

It's a $1,000 um

um admission to the drawing, and um the

a winner is picked, and they get the

video lottery the ability to apply for a

video lottery license. We had already

been kind of talking about this. I think

there's four our population would allow

for four additional um licenses to be

issued. Um we had

if if we weren't also

uh short-staffed, we would have probably

already brought one of those

opportunities to you cuz there's there's

some um an opportunity to do that. Um so

if you were to issue a license today to

the applicant, that would reduce the

number from four to three, and that

would be outside of the ordinance. And

I'm not going to say that you don't have

the authority to to deviate that from,

that 'cuz it's before you today. But,

um, you know, the council decided a

specific way of issuing these video

lottery licenses, and they did that

through the ordinance, and this would be

outside of that.

>> And um finance director Ainslie for the

rest of the question.

>> Thank you, Mr. Mayor. Um

I cannot say for sure that the city uh

would lose revenue. However, more than

likely, yes. Uh what what uh we had

discussed as a way to

bring the most revenue possible to the

community is that we would have one

raffle for one of the licenses every

quarter for four quarters. That way,

hopefully, there would be a lot of

individuals that would take part um in

those raffles because we get a $1,000

fee for each applicant. Um, again,

that's up to the city council if you

would want to go a different motion or a

different route, but, um, if that is how

we proceeded if we did reduce the number

of available video lottery licenses from

four to three, then in effect, it would

reduce the number of potential drawings

for that license by one.

>> Okay. Next, we'll go to Council Roberts.

>> So, I find this

very, very fascinating

because I can think of at least four

licenses that have been sold

and transferred from one person to

another in the last 15 years.

So, if that can be done,

why can't this gentleman do it?

>> The question's being directed at Finance

Director Daniel Ainslie.

>> Thank you, Mr. Mayor. And that's that's

a very

relevant question and a very good

question.

The

an existing video lottery license that's

attached to an existing malt beverage

license can be sold from one entity to

another.

And that that has to be approved by the

council.

And at that point, it's also not or it

has to be applied for after that to the

Department of Revenue. That's not a

guarantee that either of those would

happen. So, if I have an existing malt

beverage license with the video lottery

license component, I can sell it to an

individual.

If the council approves that, that's

still not a guarantee, number one, that

the council would approve it, or number

two, that the department or the lottery

the lottery would actually approve it.

Most of the time, they do.

But, we're just being very clear that we

cannot

um require lottery to approve that.

Because it's not it's not an asset like

a a piece of real estate or something

that you have all the ability to do

that.

But the one thing that's really unique

about this is that you're not

transferring a video lottery license

from an existing liquor license license

to

to a malt beverage license because the

liquor license always has that video

lottery component. So, even though

that's what the the idea with the

existing owners was to do that, and I

don't think that they were trying to do

anything deceitful or anything else.

That's just what they

what they were trying to do to proceed

with the sales of the of the licenses.

However, that is something that you

cannot do. A liquor license always has a

video license or I'm sorry, a video

lottery component with it. And so, the

only way this could be done is for the

city to attach one of its available

video lottery licenses to this malt

beverage license.

>> I've never heard of anybody trying to do

that before.

Uh trying to separate one from a liquor

license. Cuz typically, the only ones

that I've ever seen sale are the ones

that are with a malt beverage license.

>> Yep.

>> Yeah, and

I think it's a bad precedent if we start

that. Did you Can I ask you a question,

the applicant?

You want to step up there real quick?

Did you purchase this license already?

>> Yes, sir.

>> Huh.

[Brief discussion of the applicant's possible recourse omitted.]

>> I've never heard of this before. I've

never heard of somebody trying to

separate one from a liquor license. I

mean, they should be

asking questions to the city of whether

or not they could do that. Did anybody

ever reach out to anybody in the city to

ask them if they could do it?

>> We did.

>> Who'd you talk to?

>> Go.

Daniel.

Oh, finance director Daniel. Might I

just keep your microphone on, Daniel?

>> Thank you, Mr. Mayor.

It was originally

it was brought forward when they called

the finance office staff. Um

it was mentioned that that there was a

video license

that was attached to the malt beverage

license. And so, at that point, we said

you can proceed with the um

with the transfer application. However,

at that point, once we received

everything, we started to look at it and

said, "No, that's not actually the

case."

And so, at that point, our office did

contact

the existing owner, I believe. Um and

told them it couldn't be done. We

received input from other individuals

that said, "No,

um

a video a video lottery license can be

held under a malt beverage license,

which it can be. However, that would

require a new license to be provided.

And so, in order to try to assist, we

did say,"We'll set the public hearing,

but we need to check with lottery."And

so, that's when we've been going through

this.

[Applicant response redacted: the applicant described the steps taken before the request, the state lottery's position, and the $1,000 drawing application process; a Councilor yielded time to him.]

>> Thank you very much. You know, I think

this is a very unfortunate incident. I

think that

we are learning a lot from here.

Uh

I think that uh

you know, this is a exception that I

would definitely approve.

I You've been through a lot. If we have

one less to put in the lottery, I am

fine with that. Now, I know I'm going to

get some phone calls from a couple

people tomorrow that would have wanted

it in the lottery, but you know what?

They got enough of them.

>> Amen. Amen.

>> So, I would support I would support this

motion

to allow this to pass tonight.

Well, I will make the motion.

>> Oh, we got You can't make it. You

already talked. Uh

We'll pause that for now. Councilor

Armstrong has 38 seconds.

>> Quick question.

>> All right.

>> question. So, if we

Oops.

>> Oops. My apologies.

>> Can I get my time back?

My 3 seconds.

>> Yep.

>> Um

So,

if we approve this, is there still the

chance that the state lottery system can

deny this?

>> That's correct.

>> And you're okay with this?

>> It's part of the game.

>> All right. I yield my time.

>> All right. We'll give that 18 seconds to

somebody else. Coun-Councilor Miter,

you've been waiting in the queue.

>> If I could, may I make a motion to

allocate one of our four licenses?

Is that

>> I'll second.

>> Or would that just be to approve it?

>> Just need to approve it.

>> Okay. I make a motion to approve 44 and

I'd like to maintain the floor.

>> All right. The motion is to approve item

44 by Miter, seconded by Evans, if it's

needed uh for the motion. You're saying

take one of the four available licenses

that the city is looking at.

>> Okay, just so I'm clear.

>> Thank you.

>> The floor is yours, ma'am.

>> Uh well, first I want to just say, so

[remark about youth attendance omitted]

I just wanted to say my motivation for

getting on council wasn't to follow all

the precedent that's come before I was

here um stick to status quo. I feel like

we have the opportunity to impact on a

macro level and on a micro level and I

think this is a really cool opportunity.

That's exactly why I got on council, so

um

happy to support this, so thank you for

what you do .

>> All right, next up Counselor Stroman.

>> Thank you, Mayor, and I think you have

your motion and your second, right?

>> Yes, sir.

>> So, I'm speaking in favor of this motion

Okay. And I also want to make an

observation

that, if anyone is concerned that this

council isn't paying attention and

listening to the concerns of the

citizens, they need to go back and watch

the last half hour of a discussion with

this gentleman, and you'll see that we

do care what happens, and we do listen

to people, and we do offer them an

opportunity to speak. And so, um, I

appreciate the discussion from the

council.

>> I appreciate that on October's meeting.

I just want to let you know by a lot of

us sat right next to me and I moved to

the other side.

>> Okay.

>> I have no support over there.

>> All right, let's put that I appreciate

the staff and the council with their

input and their discussion with the

gentleman tonight.

>> All right, thank you. Uh

we have Counselor Evans.

>> Uh those of you who've listened to

anything I've said over the last seven

or eight years, um

I I thought the whole liquor license

thing is it kind of perpetuates the

haves having. It's so expensive. It's

kind of prevented some businesses from

being successful cuz they haven't been

able to afford to get one. It's the same

way with some of these marijuana

licenses and the video lottery thing. I

just think we should open these things

up. I think our policies are set up to

make sure the status quo remains the

status quo and the haves keep having.

So, I support what you're doing. I don't

know what you have or not, but I say

spread it around a little bit. So,

that's where I'm at tonight. Thank you.

>> Okay. Well, I echo what counselor

Strowman said. Really good discussion.

This is

this, you know, good city business,

tough situation. Thanks for what you're

doing for the youth, by the way. I love

hearing that.

Um

but with that, the motion on the floor

is to approve item 44.

Uh all in favor?

>> Aye.

>> Any opposed? Motion passes unanimously.

Uh that takes us to the end of the

consent public hearing calendar. We

would move on to non-consent public

hearing items 46 through 48.

Starting with 46. Uh,

second reading of Ordinance Number 6735,

an ordinance amending Section 17.06 of

the Rapid City Municipal Code: a request

by [applicant] for rezoning request from

Flood Hazard District to Light

Industrial District for property

generally described as being located

east of Campbell Street, south of Rocker

Drive, north of East Charles Street, and

west of Creek Drive.

>> Second.

>> I heard a motion by Evans with a second

by Meyer. All in favor?

>> Aye.

>> Any opposed?

Motion carries.

Item 47, second reading of ordinance

number 6751, an ordinance amending

section 17.06 of the Rapid City

Municipal Code, a request by [applicants] for rezoning request from

low-density residential district one to

mobile home residential district for

property generally described as being

located at Valley Drive.

>> Second.

>> Motion by Lyman with a second by Maher.

All in favor?

>> Aye.

>> Any opposed?

Motion carries. Item 48,

second reading of Ordinance Number 6752,

an ordinance amending Section 17.06 of

the Rapid City Municipal

a request by [applicant] for rezoning request from

flood hazard district to general

commercial district for property

generally described as being located,

excuse me,

east of Campbell Street, south of Rocker

Drive, north of East Charles Street, and

west of Creek Drive.

Motion by Roberts with a second by

Meyer. All in favor?

Any opposed? Motion carries. Uh next

we'll move on to the bill list. For

that, we will return to finance director

Daniel Ainslie.

>> Thank you, Mr. Mayor. Uh tonight the

bills for Main Street Square and uh or

Visit Rapid City total $21,141.31.

>> Motion by Lyman.

Second by Maher to approve item 49. All

in favor?

Any opposed? Motion carries with one

abstention from Meyer. Item 50, back to

you.

>> Thank you. The remaining bills total

$15,123,151.58.

>> Motion by Meyer with a second by

Seacrist. All in favor?

Any opposed?

Motion carries.

Motion by Temming to adjourn, second by

Stroman. All in favor? Any opposed?

We're adjourned. Thanks, everyone.