Lawn watering restrictions pending

It’s time to stop watering lawns. At least, that is what the Hill City Common Council is requesting after a discussion at the Sept. 14 meeting at city hall. 

Public works director Justin Asher reported that the Tracy Park well is only putting out 40-60 gallons per minute instead of 110. As a result, they are transferring water from the low side to the high side during the day to give the well a chance to recover. 

“We haven’t fallen behind on anything yet, but we’re trying to be proactive and just keep the tank full during the day from our other well that’s pumping full and letting it do its thing at night and recharge during the day,” said Asher. 

Alderman Ethan Walker asked if the well recharges by morning, and Asher said the best he has seen is an increase from 43 to 63 gallons per minute. 

“We’re trying it now with filling it all day to let it only do a little bit at night and then recharge, and I’ll see how that goes,” said Asher. 

The council discussed whether it should make an official request for people to stop watering their lawns. Asher said this would save 20,000 to 30,000 gallons. 

“It’s a lot of water that goes out every morning and every afternoon for water and lawns,” said Asher. “I’ve kept them abreast of when it’s decreased.”

“I think it’s time for people to stop watering for the season,” said mayor Tana Nichols. 

Alderman Denis Siebert suggested putting out the recommendation that all lawn watering cease effective immediately on social media. 

“I think if everybody knew that we were down almost 50 percent from what it’s usually pumping, they’d probably stop watering,” said alderman Justin Thiry, adding that the council can make it an official resolution at the next council meeting. 

“Right now, I’m doing the only thing I can do. If it gets to the point where I can’t keep the well full, then we’ll have to start looking at outside options,” said Asher, which would mean trucking in water. 

Siebert recommended adding the request to avoid any unnecessary use of water, especially since hotel occupancy is still high. Asher said most of the hotels are on the low side water system, for which he is thankful. 

The council asked Nichols to get the word out on social media, and finance officer Stacia Tallon will prepare a resolution for the next meeting. 

Also on the agenda was a funding request from the Community Area Projects (CAPs) Board for $750. Siebert said the board is working on printing flyers for the newspaper, putting up a banner and distributing flyers around town. The public meetings regarding the additional one percent sales tax levy to raise funds for the wastewater and water infrastructure are Sept. 23 at 3:30 p.m. and 7 p.m. at the Hill City Center.  

Siebert reminded the council that 80 to 85 percent of returns from the tax will come from non-residents, but all of the benefits will come off of residents’ water bills. With this being the case, Victor Alexander pointed out that for every $100, only $15 would come from Hill City residents should the tax pass. 

New slogans being discussed for the campaign include “A penny for a stronger Hill City,” and “A penny today for a stronger tomorrow.”

The funds request was unanimously approved by the council.

The council also reviewed the hiring process, including a job description, wages and advertising, for a maintenance worker. Nichols said it was misleading because they were not necessarily ready to hire someone. Rather, they wanted to open it up for applications before winter comes. 

“Right now, we’re not sure we need anyone, but depending on the season, we may as well get ready,” said Nichols. 

Alderwoman Lori Miner said people can submit job applications at any time and recommended that the city consider using wastewater treatment plant employees if necessary for snowplowing, as has been done in the past. 

“I know that Nate had wanted our wastewater people to actually see the construction of the plant as part of working there, but even in a best case scenario, they’re not planning to break ground until April 1, which would get us through the majority of snow season,” said Miner. 

Walker said that made sense to him and added, “What is the purpose of advertising for a job if we’re not necessarily going to hire someone?”

Miner said city administrator Nate Anderson expressed to her before his deployment that he did not intend to fill the open position, but Nichols said that was before Asher got hurt. Asher said he was not aware of this. 

Siebert asked Asher if using wastewater employees for plowing was a feasible option, and Asher said he has done it before when help was needed. 

“I was told to build a team to be full staff, so I got full staff to where we could be proactive, not reactive. So that’s what we did. I thought that’s what I was supposed to still be doing. If people would have told me to relax, I would never have brought it up. I would have just dealt with what we have and continued to move forward,” said Asher. 

Asher added that the public works team has been able to keep up with scheduled maintenance except the jetting this year. 

“We’re probably not going to get too much jetting this year anyway,” said Asher. “Whenever the plant boys are ready to jet, they’ll call me and they’ll get one of my crew.”

The motion to approve the hiring process of a maintenance worker failed unanimously. 

Superintendent Blake Gardner submitted a special event request for the Hill City Homecoming Parade, Sept. 25. The parade will start at 1:30 p.m. in front of the high school with a South Dakota Department of Transportation approved temporary closure of Main Street. All council members were in favor of the event. 

Additionally, the council also unanimously approved a final plat of a lot of the Bishop Mountain Subdivision and the corresponding resolution, with Miner abstaining. 

The next meeting of the Hill City Common Council is Monday, Sept. 28, at 5:30 p.m. at city hall.