Custer County Chronicle

City approves 2020 budget

Published by admin on Fri, 09/20/2019 - 10:18am

The City of Custer’s $9.3 million 2020 budget was given final approval at Monday’s regular meeting with zero discussion and a unanimous vote. The only comment prior to the vote was from the lone audience member (besides this reporter) who complimented the council by saying, “You guys do better than Congress!” 
With no old business on the agenda, the remainder of the meeting consisted mostly of approving contracts and leases the city has with various entities.

SLIC-e(d) up: How we got here

Published by admin on Fri, 09/20/2019 - 10:16am

What was old is new again at the former State Treatment and Rehabilitation (STAR) Academy.

9/11 brings the fall of SLIC-e

Published by admin on Fri, 09/20/2019 - 10:12am

September 11 was the day it all came crashing down. The “it,” in this case, is the dream that was SLIC-e—the “Sustainable Light Industrial Complex and energy” project envisioned for the former STAR Academy campus south of Custer.

City writes down ‘unwritten rules’ regarding parades

Published by admin on Thu, 09/12/2019 - 10:02am
The days of class reunion floats peppering onlookers with water during the Gold Discovery Days parade are over, under a resolution passed by the Custer City Council at its Sept. 3 meeting.
The council approved Resolution 09-03-19A, putting down six stipulations to be incorporated into a parade request form, which governs all parades through town, be it July 4, Gold Discovery Days or homecoming.

City to spend $9.3 million

Published by admin on Thu, 09/12/2019 - 9:57am

The Custer City Council passed the first reading of its 2020 budget at its Sept. 3 meeting for $9.3 million, an amount $1.2 million higher than the 2019 budget, which had been $2.664 million more than the previous year.

County approves $1.7 million in funding

Published by admin on Thu, 09/12/2019 - 9:56am
Custer County Search and Rescue, Custer Senior Center, the 1881 Courthouse Museum and the Custer County Airport are among the entities set to benefit from a Sept. 3 decision by the Custer County Commission to allocate over $1.7 million in funding from its unassigned reserve fund.

Hermosa School moves forward

Published by admin on Thu, 09/12/2019 - 9:51am
A year ago the new grade school to be built at Hermosa seemed a distant dream, but actions by the Custer School District Board of Education Monday evening are evidence that today the project is much nearer to becoming a reality.
In introducing the agenda item entitled “Hermosa Planning Update,” Superintendent Mark Naugle noted that the board has not officially approved the project, nor has it decided how to fund it, but added, “I’m pleased with where we’re at.” 

Access issues: To condemn or not?

Published by admin on Thu, 09/12/2019 - 9:45am
The top two officials of the local offices of the U.S. Forest Service were on hand to discuss a litany of issues with the Custer County Commission at the Sept. 3 commission meeting, but the two sides stopped short of coming up with a compromise on one of the biggest issues that sees the them at loggerheads.
Both Black Hills National Forest supervisor Mark Van Every and Hell Canyon District ranger Tracy Anderson were present, with Van Every reiterating an earlier statement that the Forest Service wants to be a good neighbor to both the county and taxpayers.

Flood cleanup slowly continues

Published by admin on Thu, 09/05/2019 - 11:14am

City of Custer officials know some in the community feel like the pace of cleanup from the Aug. 2 flood has moved along more slowly than it should, but say to rest assured that the cleanup continues each day.

Rape victim sues Mechaley, deputies

Published by admin on Thu, 09/05/2019 - 10:23am

Custer County Sheriff Marty Mechaley and other deputies at the Custer County Sheriff’s Office are among the defendants named in a civil lawsuit recently filed federally by a rural Custer County woman who was kidnapped and raped in September 2017.