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Spearfish board declares emergency after June 30 waterline break, authorizes emergency procurement
Summary
At an Aug. 4 special meeting, the Spearfish School District board unanimously adopted an emergency resolution after a June 30 district waterline failure that insurance adjusters said rendered the middle school gym floor a loss; staff said emergency procurement under SD Codified Law 5-18-9 will be used to expedite cleanup and replacement.
The Spearfish School District Board of Education voted Aug. 4 to declare an emergency and authorize procurement to address damage from a June 30 break in a district 6-inch water service line that ran under the mechanical room.
"Late on the night of June 30, our 6 inch waterline broke our service line at the school," Superintendent Nathan Gottlieb said during the meeting, explaining that water had migrated under the middle-school floor and that insurance adjusters had deemed the floor a loss. Gottlieb told the board the district has an active insurance claim and that initial cleanup and recovery invoices have arrived.
The resolution, read aloud at the meeting, cites South Dakota Codified Law 5-18-9 as the statutory authority for emergency procurement without standard advertising when an urgent threat to public health or safety exists. Gottlieb told the board contractors and preliminary assessments have so far been managed by the insurance adjuster and that "neither[he] nor [he] will sign any authorizations of work until we have an authorization of coverage and a scope of coverage to make sure that the district doesn't authorize work that may not be subject to reimbursement."
Board members moved and seconded the resolution and a roll call vote was held; all voting members present recorded "yes" and the resolution passed. In discussion, Gottlieb offered an early district estimate for cleanup and recovery costs of roughly $250,000–$350,000; he said the district will seek multiple proposals as practicable but will only authorize work once insurance scope and authorizations are clear.
The board directed staff to keep the membership and public updated; Gottlieb said he expected further updates by the following Monday and that the district would continue coordinating with the insurer and contractors. The resolution authorizes the district to pursue an emergency procurement consistent with the statute while preserving the requirement that any selection include a written determination of the emergency basis and the rationale for selecting a particular contractor.
