Consultant hired to replace Schade

Dani Schade, development services coordinator for the City of Hill City, has been let go from the position she served with the city for the past seven years.  Hill City mayor Tana Nichols made the announcement at the April 8 Hill City Planning and Zoning  (P&Z) Commission meeting saying, “She was not fired for disciplinary reasons.”

Nichols said, “What we’re doing is eliminating her position, basically,” due to “restructuring.”

Nichols said Schade would get the next couple of weeks paid and the decision was not easy for the common council members. 

Nichols told P&Z members the city was looking for someone “outside to do building inspections” and that staff reports would now be done remotely. 

“There’s a lot of changes lately,” Nichols said. “We will be doing some restructuring” 

Nichols added the city is looking for additional office staff, but did not elaborate. 

“A lot of it is financial reasons,” said Nichols when asked by P&Z board president Stacy Bintliff. Nichols also said hiring an outside consultant would mean much less cost for the city.

To that end, the Hill City Common Council (HCCC) voted at its April 14 meeting to approve a consulting services contract with consultant Neil Putnam, AICP, from Alfred Benesch and  Company for an on-call planner and an on-call building official. The contract specifies planning at a rate of $135 per hour for 1.5 hours per week, which includes supporting office staff on planning, zoning, plat annexation and land use issues. The contract also calls for that same fee for building official services including support on building permits. Conducting building inspections will be charged separately. The contract is for a period of six months and will renew automatically The total lump sum for six months is $10,530.

Nichols called Putnam very knowledgeable and according to city administrator Nate Anderson Putnam is a retired city planner from Mitchell.

Anderson will attend future P&Z meetings while large P&Z questions, like  review of major developments would go to Benesch, said Nichols, who admitted “there are definitely details” that still need to be worked out.

Aldermen once again conducted hearings on variance requests. The council approved a variance for the Hill City Park Board to allow for the construction of the new Ponderosa Park pavilion to be built one foot below the base flood elevation.

Anderson said the pavilion is “not considered a structure as defined by floodplain rules.”

The council also approved a floodplain development permit for the site. In addition, a resolution authorizing financial assistance for new playground equipment at Memorial Park was also approved. The resolution is needed for the park board to apply for a 50/50 grant for the $97,000 equipment.

The park board has about $288,000 in its account and would still need to come back to HCCC for any additional project approvals.

Aldermen also approved the variance request for the McGregor and Main parking lot at 272 Pine Ave. Some recommendations about exit visibility and lot safety were discussed and will be brought forth to the lot owner. The plat of the lot was also approved.

After a little discussion about tap fees for sewer, the preliminary plat for phase two of Sunset Creek was also approved. 

Aldermen tabled approval of a lease extension with American Tower for a wireless tower agreement, discussing negotiating different rates and comparing rate increases each year. 

A low bid from Hagel’s Tree Service was accepted by aldermen for removal of trees on Museum Drive.  The low bid of $9,795 covers removal of 40 pine trees. Aldermen also approved up to $1,500 be spent for removal of trees on the south side of the road. 

Lipp Construction submitted a proposal for $15,340, which aldermen approved, to place curb and gutter on McGregor Street while construction is taking place at the 1885 Steakhouse and Saloon. This will save the city extra mobilization fees. 

“It’s already prepped,” said Anderson, adding if the town was to do it, “now is the time.”

Voters in Ward II are encouraged to come out and cast a ballot for either Lori Miner or John Johnson. This will be the only race in the town or the county as Ethan Walker ran unopposed in the city as did Eric Lind and Rob Timm for the school board. In person voting takes place at the Hill City Center June 3.  Absentee voting starts 15 days prior at city hall.

The town has received its paperwork for the  Department of Agriculture and Natural Resources loan and, according to Anderson, is looking at options for customer surcharges as the loan repayment ramps up. Anderson did a sewer plant walk through with city engineer AE2S to look at “things we can tackle now versus waiting for phase three” of the infrastructure project. He is also optimistic about completing resident surveys that may allow the town to secure more funding for the project. 

Deputy Jim Waldrop of the Pennington County Sheriff’s Office noted the sheriff’s office assisted with the eviction of squatters at the old diner in town. He called the building a “magnet for problems” with an out of state owner. 

“It’s bad, bad,” he said of the property, calling it “the nastiest property in all of Hill City.” 

The next HCCC meeting is April 28 at 5:30 p.m.