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2026-08-05 - City Council

Summary

Built from the official approved minutes (meeting adjourned 6:36 PM). No agenda or video on file.

  • Present: all eight Council members (Rich Merkouris, Zak Okuwe, James Oppenheimer, Jennifer Sigette, Ryan Spellerberg, Richard L. Thomason, Sara Pankonin, Miranda Basye) and Mayor Christine Erickson. Every recorded vote was 8-0.
  • Invocation by Rev. Carol Hallman, First Congregational United Church of Christ.
  • Consent agenda approved 8-0 (Merkouris, Sigette). It covered the minutes of the July 17 special meeting, the July 21 informational and Council meetings, the July 28 informational meeting and the July 30 special meeting; contracts over $100K on the July 31 memorandum; three requests to consume (not sell) alcohol at the Mary Jo Wegner Arboretum on August 13, August 15 and September 25; the SIOUXPERHERO Citizen Recognition Award to Lim Bun; special one-day liquor and malt beverage licenses (including Riverfest on September 19 and Octoberfest on September 26); and August 18 hearing dates for new licenses for Puerto Vallarta Restaurant LLC and Jacky's 41st LLC.
  • Regular agenda amended to hear Item 30 ahead of Item 28 (Merkouris, Basye; 8-0), then approved as amended, 8-0 (Oppenheimer, Spellerberg).
  • Unfinished business: new retail malt beverage and wine licenses for Kwik Trip Inc. (Kwik Star, 7151 S. Santa Rosa Ct.) and for Sodexo America LLC at the Midco Ice Arena, Edith Mortensen Center, Elmen Center and Ronken Field, Items 22 through 26, approved together 8-0 (Sigette, Spellerberg). The minutes label these licenses "2026-26".
  • Ordinance 57-26 (rezoning south of E. 33rd St.) and Ordinance 58-26 (supplemental appropriations, amended) adopted.
  • Resolutions 78-26 and 79-26 adopted: $15,000,000 Bezos Earth Fund grant for Falls Park and the gifting agreement.
  • Chief Administrative Officer job description approved and the vacancy to be advertised, 8-0.
  • General public input: speakers raised sidewalk inspections and whether there are ulterior motives behind the process, and the Whittier Neighborhood Association thanked those who supported its Neighborhood National Night Out. The minutes do not name the speakers.
  • Adjourned 8-0 at 6:36 PM (Basye, Spellerberg).

Veterans Parkway Conservation Rezoning

  • Item 27, second reading: Ordinance 57-26 rezones land south of E. 33rd St. and east of Veterans Pkwy. from RS to CN Conservation (case 022984-2026), applicant Western Hills, LLC (Steve VanBuskirk). Planning Commission recommended approval 5-0. Basye moved, Spellerberg seconded; 8-0.

Falls Park Redevelopment Gift

  • Item 30 (heard before Item 28): Resolution 79-26 authorizes the Mayor to enter into a Conditional Gifting Agreement for redevelopment of a portion of Falls Park, in which the Bezos Earth Fund, through the Sioux Falls Community Foundation, will give the City a future cash gift. The Parks and Recreation Board recommended approval on July 15, 2026. Basye moved, Pankonin seconded; 8-0. The Mayor may sign after the Foundation ratifies and executes it.
  • Item 29: Resolution 78-26 amends the 2026-2030 Capital Program, raising Project No. 14001, Falls Park Development, by $15,000,000 in 2026 for amenities and remediation in the quarry area, funded by the Bezos Earth Fund grant. Sigette moved, Spellerberg seconded; 8-0.

Parks Supplemental Appropriation Limit

  • Item 28, second reading of the supplemental appropriations ordinance (sponsor: the Mayor), Ordinance 58-26. Basye moved adoption (Sigette seconded), then moved to amend so that no appropriation authority from this supplemental appropriation can be transferred to or from another program within Parks and Recreation unless the Council supplements it; amendment 8-0, adoption as amended 8-0.

Chief Administrative Officer Job Description

Sources