City won’t require sidewalk to nowhere

Ozzy Osbourne once sang “The Road to Nowhere leads to me.”
As for the sidewalk to nowhere? That’s at the future home of Premier Family Eyecare. Well, at least for now.
At the Oct. 6 meeting of the Custer City Council, Adam Pequette of Lloyd Construction, on behalf of Premier Family Eyecare owner Nathan Wiederholt, requested and received a variance from city ordinance that technically requires a rebuild of a sidewalk that will be torn out as construction on the new building at 23 N. 1st Street progresses.
The sidewalk is actually a second sidewalk—the South Dakota Department of Transportation’s (DOT) sidewalk along Mt. Rushmore Road/Highway 16 is curbside—and dead ends at the end of the property. It sits just above the DOT sidewalk.
The plan, Pequette said, is to install landscaping where the sidewalk sits.
Pequette said in reading city code it is his interpretation that ordinance will be met by the existing sidewalk curbside along Mt. Rushmore Road. City ordinance requires sidewalks abutting streets, highways, etc., must be constructed and maintained by property owners as a condition of issuing a building permit. The ordinance also says the sidewalks must be curbside.
Alderwoman Jeannie Fischer asked how customers who are coming to the business from 1st St. will access the property, with Pequette saying the sidewalk coming down the street would blend in with where the parking lot begins. 
“It seems silly to me to require two parallel sidewalks,” alderman Todd Pechota said, saying if the DOT ever widens the highway would move the sidewalks closer to the building to the north, if they were moved at all.
“They aren’t going to bump it to the south,” he said.
Alderwoman Jeannie Fischer said she believed the spirit of the ordinance is to make sure businesses provide a sidewalk of some fashion, saying the DOT sidewalk to the south of the building does just that.
“If there wasn’t a sidewalk there, I would totally be on board with making them (rebuild the sidewalk),” she said. “There is one already there.”
The council also approved requests from the Custer Area Arts Council for the 2026 Burning Beetle, which will take place Saturday, Jan. 17. As always, the council approved the use of Pageant Hill for the event, and the torch march will go from the high school parking lot down Wildcat Lane, right on Blueball Lane and left up Pine Street to Pageant Hill.
The council also approved the use of fireworks on Pageant Hill, with the Custer Volunteer Fire Department once again supervising the lighting of the fireworks as well as the burning of the beetle.
The evening will also  include a variety show and the “Bug Crawl” downtown following the burn. Christmas trees will be collected on the site to create a pyre for the burn.
In other news from the Oct. 6 meeting, the council:
• Approved a pair of change orders for Moss Rock Landscaping, Inc., in regards to the work on West Dam. 
The first change order, which will cost $17,600, will include grading of fill to final reservoir contours to complete the elevation of the protective berm south of the clubhouse at Rocky Knolls Golf Course, which will allow for improvements to be made to the clubhouse exterior, complete installation of underground utilities and minimize disturbance of golf course operations during phase three of the project, which is actual dam construction.
This change order is contingent upon a signed agreement with the golf course, which will reimburse the funds for the work.
The second change order, for $9,400, is for a sediment trap at the upstream end of the reservoir, which is needed to control sediments from entering the reservoir during high flows. The berm will be used for access by long reach excavators to periodically remove sediments during future maintenance activities.
• Approved negotiating with JEO Consulting Group for its architectural services in regards to the planned Custer Community Center campus. Bryan Solko, an architect for the group, said the community center is “truly the type of project we are excited for.” Among those in the group are some familiar names, including Tallgrass Landscape Architecture, which is owned locally, and DGR Engineering, which has helped steward the city through the wastewater treatment plant upgrades.
• Renewed its contract with J&M Lawn Care for cemetery caretaking for 2026. The contract is $44,000.
• Approved appointing Camillia Belland and Paul Higgs as alternates on the city’s planning commission. These will be three year terms.
• Learned during committee update time that ShayAnna Woodward has resigned as director of the Custer Senior Center, effective Oct. 23.
• Learned from city public works director Zack Brown the public works crew is gearing up for winter operations and will be pouring concrete for the drinking fountain at French Creek Park.