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Votes at a glance: Minnehaha County Commission approves routine items, agreements and emergency burn ban
Summary
The Minnehaha County Board of Commissioners on April 15 approved routine agenda and consent items, multiple agreements and contracts, and a temporary countywide burn ban, enabling scheduled events, grant-funded outreach and cybersecurity and highway purchases to proceed.
The Minnehaha County Board of Commissioners on April 15 approved the meeting agenda and a consent agenda, issued 13 special-event liquor licenses to Red Rock Bar and Grill for racing events at Houston Speedway, authorized management and lease agreements with the Sioux Empire Fair Association, approved a short-term burn ban, authorized a management agreement with Dakota Cemetery Management and a modification to the Urban Institute/MacArthur Foundation Just Home grant, and approved multiple highway materials contracts and equipment purchases.
Why it matters: The roll-call approvals allow the county to proceed with planned events, maintain routine county services and facilities, spend awarded grant funds, and take short-term action on public-safety risks (the burn ban) without delay.
Summary of formal actions and vote results
1) Approve agenda Motion and second recorded; roll call recorded as: Heisey — Aye; Kipley — Aye; Benninga — Aye; Lisonbee — Aye. Outcome: approved.
2) Approve consent agenda Motion and second recorded; roll call recorded as: Kipley — Aye; Heisey — Aye; Benninga — Aye; Lisonbee — Aye. Outcome: approved.
3) Approve 13 special-event on-sale liquor licenses for Red Rock Bar and Grill (race events at Houston Speedway between May and August 2025) Kim Christiansen (Auditor's Office) presented; staff review (Sheriff, State's Attorney, Planning) reported no objections. Motion to approve carried on roll call: Benninga — Aye; Kipley — Aye; Heisey — Aye; Weinberg/Lisonbee — Aye. Outcome: licenses approved. Staff noted licensing costs are $50 per day plus publishing fee and, per Resolution 2,077, licenses may be issued for no more than 15 consecutive days and a maximum of 15 special-event licenses per calendar year for an applicant.
4) Sioux Empire Fair Association: authorize chair to sign two-year management agreement and two-year lease agreement Tom Greco (Commission Administrative Officer) recommended approval; motions passed on roll calls (Kipley — Aye; Heisey — Aye; Benninga — Aye; Lisonbee/Blindberg — Aye). Outcomes: both agreements authorized.
5) Resolution enacting a burn ban in Minnehaha County Jason Gehrman (Emergency Management) requested the resolution citing dry, windy forecast conditions. Commissioners discussed recent light rainfall (airport gauge ~0.03 inches) and prior short ban; motion and second carried on roll call (Kipley — Aye; Heisey — Aye; Benninga — Aye; Weinberg — Aye). Outcome: burn ban enacted.
6) Authorize chair to sign management agreement with Dakota Cemetery Management (county cemetery) Lori Montes (Human Services) summarized increase in management fee and a 2.5% annual accelerator for three years; motion and second carried on roll call (Kipley — Aye; Heisey — Aye; Benninga — Aye; Lisonbee — Aye). Outcome: agreement authorized (2025 fee noted as $7,500; 2022 fee cited as $5,729).
7) Just Home / Urban Institute modification (MacArthur Foundation funds) Brett Johnson (Human Services) presented modification agreement No. 3 to extend and spend remaining funds from the MacArthur Foundation award and transition coordination to community partners; motion and second carried on roll call (Kipley — Aye; Heisey — Aye; Benninga — Aye; Lisonbee — Aye). Outcome: modification approved.
8) Authorize agreement with South Dakota Urban Indian Health (WIOA/outreach) using MacArthur Safety & Justice grant funds ($65,000 for 2025–2026) Tom Greco presented the $65,000 professional services agreement to fund street outreach for unhoused and underhoused individuals; motion and second carried on roll call (Kipley — Aye; Heisey — Aye; Benninga — Aye; Lisonbee — Aye). Outcome: agreement authorized.
9) Volunteer Week proclamation (recognize April 2025 as Volunteer Week) Carrie Deaver (Human Resources) noted roughly 240 monthly volunteers across county departments; motion and second carried on roll call (Kipley — Aye; Heisey — Aye; Benninga — Aye; Weinberg — Aye). Outcome: proclamation adopted.
10) Highway purchases and annual materials letting Jacob Morris (Highway) presented bids and recommended awards for hot-mix asphalt, snow-plow cutting edges, rock salt and CIPP liners and requested purchase of four Horizon Signal SQ2 portable traffic signals ($49,902.90). Motions and seconds carried on roll call; outcomes: bids awarded and equipment purchase authorized.
11) IT-related MOU: SecureSD / Dakota State University cybersecurity initiative Monty Waddenbach (IT) presented a memorandum of understanding to participate in SecureSD (per Senate Bill 187 implementation). Motion and second carried on roll call (Kipley — Aye; Heisey — Aye; Benninga — Aye; Kleinberg — Aye). Outcome: MOU authorized.
Roll-call reporting in the transcript uses commissioner last names (Heisey, Kipley, Benninga, Lisonbee, Weinberg, Kleinberg/Blindberg variants appear in different roll calls). All recorded motions above carried as summarized. For items where the transcript listed only ‘‘motion and a second’’ without named movers, the minutes show the motion, second and recorded roll call votes as the formal record.
Notes: Where staff cited statutes, resolutions or grant names during the presentations those references are recorded in the detailed articles (for example: Resolution 2,077 for special-event liquor licenses; Senate Bill 187 / SecureSD funding for cybersecurity support; MacArthur Foundation grant funds for Just Home).
