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2026-08-11 - City Council

Summary

Built from the official approved minutes (adjourned 7:27 PM). No agenda or video on file.

  • Present: Council Members Okuwe, Oppenheimer, Sigette, Spellerberg, Thomason, Basye, Pankonin, Merkouris and Mayor Erickson. Absent: none. A local pastor gave the invocation.
  • Mayor Erickson took a point of personal privilege to congratulate Assistant City Clerk Tamara Jorgensen on her six-year anniversary of being cancer free.
  • Consent agenda approved 8-0 (moved by Sigette, seconded by Spellerberg). It included the minutes of the August 5 budget hearings and regular meeting; contracts over $100K (memorandum of August 7); notice of contracts under $100K and change orders over $100K through July 31; a request to consume, but not sell, alcohol at the Old Courthouse Museum on October 14; special one-day liquor and malt licenses for events at Levitt at the Falls (August 13 to 15), the Coliseum (August 15 and September 5) and a parking lot at 3500 West 69th Street (August 22 and 23); and four property tax abatements concurred with the Lincoln County Commission's recommendation (one parcel, 2023 to 2026: $753.20, $1,227.76, $1,119.34 and $523.18; disabled veteran exemption).
  • Hearing date set for Tuesday, September 1, 2026 on the resolution adopting the budget for the fiscal year ending December 31, 2027 and the 2027-2031 Capital Program (Mayor's sponsorship).
  • Regular agenda approved 8-0 (Merkouris, Basye).
  • First reading of Ordinance rezoning 6000 W. 60th St. N. from AG Agriculture to I-1 Light Industrial: second reading set for August 18 (Sigette, Oppenheimer), 8-0.
  • Resolutions 80-26 to 88-26 adopted, each 8-0: a utility easement release, a right-of-way vacation, and seven special assessment rolls (tree trimming, tree removal, sidewalk, snow removal, repair or demolition, weed mowing, litter removal).
  • New business: none.
  • General public input touched on riding a bike and an experience with an undercover street detective, the letter of the law, a presentation on celebrating democracy, data centers, and contaminated water from data centers.

2027 City Budget

  • Item 17: hearing set for September 1, 2026 on the resolution adopting the FY2027 budget and 2027-2031 Capital Program. The August 5 budget hearings minutes were approved on the consent agenda.

West 60th Street North Industrial Rezoning

  • Item 19, first reading (Sigette, Oppenheimer), 8-0; second reading set for August 18. Applicant Stockwell Engineers, Inc, Gaard Rops.

Property Maintenance Special Assessment Rolls

  • Resolutions 82-26 to 88-26 (items 22 to 28), each 8-0:
  • 82-26 tree trimming (Merkouris, Basye): one annual installment, interest not to exceed 6.25 percent; payable interest-free by September 10, 2026.
  • 83-26 removal of dead, diseased or insect-infested trees (Thomason, Oppenheimer): seven installments at 6.50 percent; interest-free payment within 30 days of filing.
  • 84-26 concrete sidewalk removal and replacement (Sigette, Basye): five installments at 6.25 percent; interest-free within 30 days.
  • 85-26 snow removal (Thomason, Spellerberg): one installment, interest not to exceed 6.25 percent; interest-free by September 10.
  • 86-26 repair or demolition of real property (Sigette, Okuwe): one installment, up to 6.25 percent; interest-free by September 10.
  • 87-26 mowing weeds and grasses (Basye, Thomason): one installment, up to 6.25 percent; interest-free by September 10.
  • 88-26 litter removal (Sigette, Spellerberg): one installment, up to 6.25 percent; interest-free by September 10.
  • All are collected by the County Treasurer under SDCL 9-43, with the first installment due January 1, 2027. The dollar totals of the rolls are not in the minutes.

Other resolutions

  • Resolution 80-26 (Basye, Merkouris), 8-0: releases part of a public water main easement and public sanitary sewer easement within Lots 2A, 2B and 2C, Block 1, Knochenmus 3rd Addition (the city no longer needs it; utility approvals on file with the City Engineer).
  • Resolution 81-26 (Pankonin, Sigette), 8-0: vacates a 66-foot statutory right-of-way within Tract 1 of Westwater at Cherry Lake Addition, on a petition by Crusher Investment Companies; the hearing was held August 11.

Hyperscale Data Center Moratorium

  • Public input at this meeting included two topics, data centers and contaminated water from data centers. The minutes do not name speakers or record Council response.

Sources