Commission actions: liquor licenses, personnel pay items, rubble-site hours, crosswalks, equipment rental and first readings

The City Commission took a series of administrative and budgetary actions at its Nov. 3 meeting after public hearings and staff presentations.

Licenses: Commissioners approved completion and submittal of 12 liquor and wine license renewal applications for 2026. City staff verified property-tax status and forwards completed applications to the state; the state will withhold final approval pending sales-tax clearance.

Personnel and pay: The commission voted to remove a proposed floating-holiday entitlement for employees who work on a paid city holiday (i.e., employees who work a paid holiday will not also receive an additional floating holiday for that work). Separately, the commission approved the 2026 step-in-grade/compensation adjustment at 3% (the adjustment reflects the state's minimum-wage step and related step/grading schedule). A proposed one-time step increase for employees who live inside city limits (in-town residency pay) was tabled for more information.

Rubble-site hours: The commission approved changing winter rubble-site hours to Monday, Wednesday and Saturday from 10 a.m. to 4 p.m., with the city administrator empowered to alter hours for weather or operational reasons. Staff said the change aims to better serve residents who drop off branches and other material; commissioners noted concerns about staffing and usage and said hours can be revised later.

Crosswalk repainting procurement: Staff presented a vendor quotation for waterborne pavement markings ($28,766) and discussed higher-cost options such as epoxy or thermoplastic that last longer but cost more. Commissioners expressed reluctance to spend a large sum annually for paint that degrades quickly on busy Highway 18 and directed staff to send the project to bid and asked the city engineer to review bid law and procurement options before awarding work.

Equipment rental: The commission approved a seasonal rental agreement for an eight-wheel loader for winter operations at $5,097.60 per month, subject to clarifying start/end dates and sales/use-tax handling with the vendor.

First readings and budget: The commission completed first readings on a supplemental appropriation ordinance (general fund total $1,161,386) and on an amendment to water and sewer rates that phases in a second year of a South Dakota Rural Water bulk-rate increase and adds a separate outside-city water-service rate; the second reading and effective dates for the rates are scheduled for Nov. 17 and Dec. 17 (effective Jan. 1 billing cycle) respectively.

Votes were recorded by roll call on the motions above where noted, and the motions to approve the liquor-license submittals, holiday policy revision, 3% step-in-grade, rubble-site hours changes, the crosswalk procurement motion to solicit bids, and the loader rental agreement carried on recorded votes.

Clarifying details: staff noted the state will check sales taxes before finalizing liquor-license renewals; the step-in-grade chart in the packet incorrectly showed "5%" at the top but staff confirmed the adopted numbers reflect a 3% increase; the crosswalk vendor quotation covered waterborne paint with an expected life of about one year and an epoxy/thermoplastic option would have a higher upfront cost with longer service life; the loader rental start date will be negotiated so the city is not billed before it needs the equipment.