Lawrence County Board of Commissioners approve routine business, update staff phone allowances; longtime employee to retire

The Lawrence County Board of Commissioners approved routine business, authorized changes to several staff cell-phone stipends and approved travel for equalization staff during a meeting in which planning and zoning items were pulled from the agenda and a longtime county employee announced her upcoming retirement.

The board voted to approve an amended agenda, the minutes from the Jan. 6 meeting and payment of county bills. The commissioners also approved a motion to set or confirm monthly cell-phone allowances for several staff members and approved two travel requests for equalization personnel to attend an out-of-county conference in June.

County staff notified the board that Mel Lawson, a county employee with 30 years of service, plans to retire effective April 4; Lawson’s 30th anniversary with the county was April 1. County staff indicated they will begin the hiring process to fill the role.

Under personnel matters, the board approved a change that sets a $50 monthly cell-phone allowance for a veteran‑service position (noted in the record as Betsy Keter) effective in February, and approved a separate motion to provide a cell-phone allowance for Jesse Keltzer. The board also recorded a budgeted increase in monthly phone stipends for two staff members in the state department office, identified in the record as Shelly Baumann and Brent Harvey, raising those stipends from $50 to $75 per month effective Jan. 26, 2025.

The board approved two travel requests for the county equalization office. Louise Hahn and Christine Mackey were authorized to attend the South Dakota Association of Assessing Officers conference in Mitchell from June 10–13; the record notes that travel reimbursement and payment details were included in the request.

Early in the meeting the board acknowledged that a planning and zoning item had been pulled from the agenda because Commissioner Flanagan was not available to appear. County staff also flagged a pending request labeled in the record as “HDN 81,” described as an amendment related to severance tax law; commissioners said they planned to address that item later in the agenda or at a subsequent meeting. The board was also told that reports from a National Research Committee task force concerning the North Sands project (deadline indicated as Feb. 21) and the SAVA project cannot be acted on at the same meeting at which they are first presented because state law requires task-force reports be reported to a meeting and then considered only at a subsequent meeting (cited in the record as SDCL 1‑27‑1.18).

All motions recorded in the transcript were approved by voice vote; no roll-call tallies were given in the meeting record.

Less contentious agenda items proceeded quickly, and the meeting record notes some technical audio issues during the session.