Hill City Prevailer

A proposed agreement with the Pennington County Highway Department and the Town of Keystone did not gain traction at the most recent town board meeting.

The agreement would have had the town perform snow removal on Old Hill City Road from Hwy. 16A west for .67 miles with the county providing 100 ton of a sand/salt mixture for spreading.

Concerns about the agreement were expressed by Jerry Przybylski of public works.

A “close contact” protocol for the district was approved by the Hill City School Board at its most recent meeting. There was no discussion on the matter.

The protocol allows for “students to return upon the completion of a 72 hour quarantine from their last contact with a COVID positive individual.” Additionally, “students must not have any symptoms.”

Superintendent Blake Gardner, who was not present at the meeting, provided the board with statistics, which show 38 percent of districts in South Dakota require three to five days of quarantine after exposure.

Keystone is moving toward creating a planning and zoning board, according to the most recent town board meeting.

The move would allow the town to adopt the recently completed comprehensive plan created through a partnership with the Black Hills Council.

Black Hills Council representative, Lysann Zeller, explained that the process of adopting a comprehensive plan involves two sets of two public hearings: one with a planning and zoning commission and the second with the town board. However, the Town of Keystone does not currently have a planning and zoning commission.

The annual Olde Tyme Christmas Parade is on for Nov. 27.

The parade was approved at Monday night’s meeting of the Hill City Common Council.

“There are really no changes other than the date,” said Brett McMacken, city administrator for Hill City. “The only change would be the route.”

The change in the route would take the parade down Main Street and then down Museum Drive before looping back to the South Dakota State Railroad Museum.