BROOKINGS – The Brookings City Council authorized a loan agreement with Friends of Baseball for reimbursement of the Bob Shelden Field turf on Tuesday.
Erick Rangel, chief financial officer, and Dusty Rodiek, director of Parks, Recreation & Forestry, explained the loan, which formalizes the financial commitment provided to the City by the Friends of Baseball for payment for the synthetic infield turf installed during the renovations at Shelden Field.
“As a part of the Bob Shelden Ballfield Complex Revitalization project the Friends of Baseball organization agreed to fund the installation and ongoing replacement of the synthetic field turf in the infield of Bob Shelden Field. The price of the field turf alternate within the project bid documents was $223,000. Prior to the beginning of the project, Friends of Baseball provided a letter of financial commitment to the City for the amount of the cost of the turf,” according to a memo by Rodiek.
The Bob Shelden upgrade project is in line with the 2018-2023 Strategic Plan, according to Rodiek’s memo.
“The note is in the amount of $233,000,” Rangel said. “The note has a maturity date of June 1, 2021, and there is no interest.”
“This is a great opportunity to work with Friends of Baseball and a good way to get things started with other organizations,” Mayor Keith Corbett said.
Councilor Nick Wendell asked for clarification on the amount of the loan to confirm the resolution had the correct number.
“It’s $233,000,” Rodiek confirmed.
The motion was approved unanimously.
CNC machine shop
The council approved a conditional use permit for a CNC machine and 3-D printer in a single-family home at 1420 Legeros Drive.
Struck explained that homeowner Alexander Schafer intends to use the CNC machine and 3-D printer for a small business making custom made-to-order parts and accessories.
“(He’s) looking at a small-scale operation and kind of wants to see where it goes from there,” Struck said.
It meets the criteria for a home operation and does not exceed the square footage in the residential structure, he said.
Staff recognized
Susan Rotert, director of Human Resources, read the names and showed the pictures of 29 city staff who have reached milestone years with the city, from five to 30.
“We’re really blessed to have these great employees and Brookings is so fortunate. They’re hard working,” Corbett said.
“All of our employees are truly dedicated to this community, to the organization. And this is just a great opportunity to show the tenure that we have within our organization,” City Manager Paul Briseno said. “Hats off to our employee advisory group, and HR and everyone who put this together.
“During COVID this year, it’s been such a challenging time, but what a great opportunity to showcase some of the great employees that we have,” Briseno said.
Change order
City Engineer Jackie Lanning explained the final change order to close out the 20th Street South improvement project by Bowes Construction.
“This project was the reconstruction of 20th Street South from Main Avenue South to Rio Grande Avenue, which included storm sewer, water main, sanitary sewer, grading, curb and gutter, asphalt paving and a new 8-foot wide concrete shared use path along the south side of the street. The project was phased over the two-year period of 2019 and 2020,” according to a memo by Lanning.
“The final cost of the project was an increase of about $61,177.47 from the current contract amount,” Lanning said.
The change order was primarily due to additional excavation, transfer material, and gravel, she said.
The final contract price of the project is $3.3 million, she said.
The council approved the change order unanimously.
Alcohol license
The council approved an on-off sale malt license for Livermont Enterprises LLC and owner Ryan Livermont, for the Newman Convenience Store, 503 Sixth St.
City Clerk Bonnie Foster explained that video lottery is not being requested at this time.
COVID-19 update
City Manager Paul Briseno said Brookings County saw “substantial increase in our overall cases” of COVID-19 over the holiday season.
The most recent trending is going “in the right direction,” he said, adding “hopefully the residents of Brookings will continue to do their part by wearing masks and social distancing.”
The county is still in substantial spread, he said.
“Brookings’ seven-day average of positive is at 38%, while South Dakota is at 34%,” Briseno said, adding the area saw an increase over the holiday season over what happened across the state.
The current mask mandate is in effect until Feb. 13, Briseno said.
The city is still accepting surveys “so we can understand how the community of Brookings wants to receive information when it comes to COVID,” he said. The surveys will be used to help the medical community in the vaccine roll-out.
For more information on the survey, visit the city’s website or call 697-8645.
“I was really happy to see the response,” Corbett said, mentioning a boxful of surveys. He thanked the staff and Dr. Bonny Specker for the daily updates.
Councilor Patty Bacon asked Briseno if he’d received any word from the state on a planned roll-out and how will the citizens know when and how they will have access to the vaccine.
“I know that information is constantly changing,” Briseno said, and urged residents to visit the State of South Dakota Health Department website, and the city has links on its website and social media sites.
“It also depends on what the federal government’s communicating with the state and their plans, and ultimately how the state will communicate that with us,” Briseno said.
City staff is meeting with personnel from the hospital, Economic Development, Convention and Visitors Bureau, the Chamber and South Dakota State University and others on a weekly basis to help the medical community roll out that information.
“They are getting bombarded with those questions. People want to know when they can get in to get their vaccinations, and so we’re gonna do whatever we can to help to get that information out,” Briseno said.
Contact Jodelle Greiner at jgreiner@brookingsregister.com.
