Council approves professional services agreement for downtown landscape master plan; one member objects

The Rapid City Common Council voted to authorize the mayor and finance director to sign a professional services agreement with Wiss Associates Inc. to produce a downtown landscape master plan.

Council members framed the plan as an economic development and public-safety measure and said it will guide future streetscape improvements, conceptual design and cost estimates. "We allocated or dedicated $100,000 in council contingency funds in 2025 to be used towards downtown beautification," Councilor Seacrest said, explaining the funding source for initial planning work.

Seacrest told colleagues the goal is a long-term investment rather than piecemeal fixes, noting the last major downtown streetscape investments were in the 1980s and 1990s and that maintenance issues now include "failing irrigation lines, aging design features, and mismatched streetscapes." He described the effort as appropriate for inclusion in the city's comprehensive plan vision fund and said the project should bring stakeholders — downtown businesses, Visit Rapid City, parks, streets and public-safety officials — together.

"If we create an environment where people want to come down and use downtown, enjoy downtown, it will improve the environment and eliminate a lot of the crime that we're having downtown," Councilor Pettigrew said, urging colleagues to support the planning contract and noting the plan will involve public input and multiple city departments.

Council discussion included the downtown Business Improvement District (BID) funding context: Seacrest said BID funds generate about $280,000 annually and that Main Street Square has an operations budget of about $1,100,000, arguing BID revenue is currently committed to operations and not sufficient for a project of this scale.

A motion by Councilor Seacrest, seconded by Councilor Roseland, to authorize signing the professional services agreement passed; the roll call recorded one no vote from Councilor Lehman and the motion otherwise carried.

The agreement directs staff to work with Wiss Associates on planning, conceptual design and cost estimates; the council did not adopt design details or construction funding at this meeting. Implementation steps and timelines were not specified during discussion.

Mayor Jason Solomon presided over the vote and the council requested that the consultant gather community input and coordinate with downtown stakeholders and public-safety staff.

The council did not set a project schedule or final construction budget at the meeting; those items will be determined later as planning work and cost estimates are completed.