Plowing complaint discussed

A petition is circulating in the Town of Buffalo Gap demanding answers from the Custer County Commission regarding the plowing of snow on county roads in the town in the wake of a Dec. 11, 2021 snowstorm that some in town feel made roads impassable thanks to a lack of plowing.
The commission, however, feels all that could be done was done, and that county highway superintendent Jess Doyle went above and beyond to try to clear the roads.
At the Feb. 9 meeting of the Custer County Commission Doyle read aloud the petition, which requested the commission hold a public meeting in Buffalo Gap to “seek out solutions for the proper maintenance and service of county roads in and around the Town of Buffalo Gap,” and further asked the commission to take “substantial actions” to ensure snow is appropriately and quickly removed from county roads that provide access to Hwy. 79 to “ensure potential accidents or tragedies are avoided.” Both the north and south entrances into Buffalo Gap are county-maintained roads.
County highway superintendent Jess Doyle said he felt everything addressed in the petition has been set forth through the highway department’s snow removal policy, and that he was there the night of that snowstorm. Doyle said he saw three vehicles abandoned in the ditch off the roadway, and of those three, two were the cause of three or four-foot snow drifts across both entrances into town. Except for those spots, the wind (which was gusting up to 70 mph that night) had blown the road clear of snow.
“It was clear to me the blowing snow conditions caused vehicles to go off the road into the ditch,” he said. “There were times I couldn’t see the plow on the front of the truck I was in. Those conditions are not conditions highway staff should be out in. We’re wasting money when we are out in those conditions. We do no good.”
The south entrance had a fourth abandoned vehicle, Doyle said, which was left parked in the middle of the roadway because of the drift caused by a previous vehicle left just off the roadway in the ditch. He was unable to get around the car in either direction to clear a path. He contacted a deputy by radio to inquire about getting the car towed, but was told he should close the roads until the morning. Even still, a passable path was cleared at the north entrance for the night before full-scale plowing could resume the following morning. Doyle slept in the Buffalo Gap shop that night, and called county dispatch to let them know of the poor road conditions and that if there were any type of emergency to call him and he would clear the roadway.
“Buffalo Gap was not forgotten about that night,” he said.
Commissioner Craig Hindle said he talked to some Buffalo Gap residents and town board members who said they had no problem with the county’s attempts that night, and felt the county shouldn’t have been out plowing in those conditions in the first place.
“I think you went above and beyond,” he told Doyle. “Nobody should have been out driving that night, including you.”
In other news from the Feb. 9 meeting, the commission:
Learned from Doyle that Custer State Park is willing to put magnesium chloride (road stabilizer/dust deterrent) on Lame Johnny Road and LH Road as part of a program to take care of access roads into the park funded by the state, but will hold off on other roads, as park officials aren’t convinced the increased traffic is due to the park. The park wants to put cameras up at the Lower French Creek road entrance to the park to see how many out of state plates come through that entrance. Doyle said he is grateful for the work the park has agreed to do on the roads, but said there is room for improvement.
“We’ll keep working on it,” he said.
Approved Custer County Search and Rescue (SAR) director Sam Smolnisky as the new county safety officer. Smolniksy will receive a $3,000 stipend that will come out of the county’s emergency management budget.
Heard from Larry Voecks and Jessica Brown of SAR, who proposed compensating the SAR director at $9,000 annually. Voecks said the director, in this case, Smolnisky, spends around 20 hours a week on various SAR tasks, including budgeting, recruiting, writing reports, record keeping and other administrative duties. The commission approved the compensation, with the fund the money will come out of moving forward to be determined at a later date.
Heard from Bob Ehlers of Vanguard Appraisals, Inc., who appeared via video conferencing to discuss the possibility of conducting a mass appraisal for the county, which was quoted at an initial cost of $1.5 million. Ehlers said the appraisal would see his staff go door to door in the county to do a proper appraisal, and would involve physically observing and going into buildings and homes to arrive at a proper value for a structure. Maintaing physical information is key to valuing property, he said.
Costs do get adjusted to the location being appraised, Ehlers said, and he said after the appraisal was complete company staff would meet informally with owners to answer any concerns with their valuation or the process that was used to arrive at that figure.
The earliest the company could come to Custer County to conduct such an appraisal, Ehlers said, is 2027. Vissia has said in the past if her office were to conduct the mass appraisal it would take the staff five to 10 years to complete. Vanguard has pledged it could do the job in one to two years. The mass appraisal would not include farm land because that is valued based on production.