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Custer County commissioners accept fire-suppression pond needs assessment
Summary
The Custer County Board of Commissioners accepted a needs assessment for two water-suppression ponds on Dec. 15, 2025, approving minor corrections and directing staff to finalize distribution details for the Substitute Water Supply Plan notification list before submitting an application to the state.
The Custer County Board of Commissioners voted Dec. 15 to accept a needs assessment for water-suppression ponds submitted for county review, with minor corrections and follow-up steps before the county files a formal application with state authorities.
Chair Bill Candacosta, who moved to accept the report "as presented by the Rusk family for the water suppression ponds," said the study dates to August, was restarted in December after a state mailing address error, and required mapping and statutory clarifications before submission. "We're going to get the needs assessment done," he said, noting staff would correct several name spellings and rotate an improperly scanned map image.
John Bates, Custer County IT and GIS coordinator, described Section 7 of the assessment, which "went over what the needs were for the maps, and the detail needed to go along with each map," including pond size, location and depth. Bates said he consulted a licensed surveyor who provided advice at no cost to clarify which data the county can legally accept for the maps.
Candacosta and staff discussed the distribution list tied to the Substitute Water Supply Plan (SWAP). The county initially received a list of 346 addresses but was later told the state would likely require distribution to only about 100'150 addresses. Candacosta said the county would preserve a record of whom it notified and finalize the reduced list before filing.
The board moved and approved acceptance of the needs assessment with the noted corrections by voice vote; no "no" votes were recorded on the public record. Candacosta said the acceptance applies to the needs-assessment report only and that the county would not file an application until the corrected package is complete and the chairman is authorized to sign the final documents.
Next steps include making the spelling and map-orientation corrections, finalizing the SWAP distribution list, and preparing the completed package for submission to the state.
