BROOKINGS – The Brookings City Council voted 7-0 at Tuesday night’s meeting to give the go-ahead to a new medical cannabis dispensary at 1304 Sixth St.
Resolution 22-077 authorizes the licensing of Silver Creek Trading Co. LLC, which is doing business as Cannabis Connection. The application was made by Glenn Jungemann of Huron. While the approval was unanimous, there were also some questions raised, including one from Councilor Wayne Avery.
“When we passed the regulations for the city that we would have medical cannabis, is there a provision, or is the assumption that in the event that our vote comes out to allow recreational cannabis in November, do our licenses convert, or are they, is somebody that’s already issued one our medical licenses, do they get a recreational license from us?” he asked.
“There’s no transition provision for any kind of transfer into a recreational-type setting,” City Attorney Steven Britzman said. “The amendment that’s being considered does not provide for licensing or sales and so we would need a legislative action, comprehensive legislative action, to create guidelines for recreational sales.”
The ballot question being referred to by Avery and Britzman is Initiated Measure 27, which will be decided by South Dakota voters during the Nov. 8 general election. The measure legalizes the possession, use and distribution of marijuana of up to 1 ounce by people age 21 and older, according to the attorney general’s statement.
Avery also raised some concerns about the wording in the lease, saying that the lease rate increases as soon as the state allows recreational marijuana. “The assumption is being made that, apparently, that … it’s going to change, or it’ll transfer the medical to the recreational as soon as the law changes.”
“It might have been contemplated by the landlord, but there is no legal procedure (for) any recreational sales in the city of Brookings,” Britzman said.
The authorization is the fourth one in Brookings. Other medical cannabis dispensaries that have been authorized are Déjà vu SD LLC at 604 First Ave.; TK Cannabis LLC, dba Prairie Grass at 310 Seventh St. W.; and Shangri-La SD LLC, dba Shangri-La Dispensary at 129 and 131 Main Ave. S. Cannabis Connection plans to open in the former location of Micro Doughnuts, which closed its doors on March 26.
Downtown at Sundown
Councilors also heard the year-end report regarding Downtown at Sundown, a series of concerts that take place on Thursdays. This year it went from July 21 through Aug. 18 and featured bands such as Ivory, The Barn Flies and The Mickey Utley Band, along with Joey Leone’s Chop Shop and The Boys of Summer.
“Ivory was a big one that wants to come back again this upcoming this year, so we’re hoping to bring them back as well for you guys,” DTSD lead intern Regen Wiederrich said. “This past year The Barn Flies out of Flandreau were a big evening as well.”
According to the report, the revenue generated came to $69,765, a bit more than the original projection of $67,300. Expenses were less than anticipated as well, adding up to $57,941.02 instead of the projected $64,400. This means Downtown at Sundown made a net profit this year, which should be around $9,000 after final expenses come in.
“It’s pretty awesome to have an event that is making money year over year, so much so this year we decreased our ask of the city from $27,500 to $25,000 because it is a sellable event,” said Kelsey Doom, president and CEO of the Brookings Area Chamber of Commerce. “We have a lot of businesses and private industry wanting to sponsor, things like that. It’s a growing event and your dollars are going to some really good work to gather a lot of individuals.”
The concerts most certainly did bring people out with, according to the report, an average of 3,601 people per concert. The high point was 4,027 attendees for the July 21 event, followed closely by the Aug. 4 event with 3,899. Overall attendance totaled 18,004 – a leap from the first-year attendance of 3,682 in 2015 and even from last year, when it was 12,134.
Doom said there’s much potential for the continued success of Downtown at Sundown.
“We think there’s a lot of growth opportunity,” Doom said. “We’re finding that a lot of SDSU students haven’t found it out yet (and) that they can come back to Brookings a few weeks early and have some fun on Thursday nights.”
Councilor Holly Tilton-Byrne had nothing but praise. “Thank you for the efforts that go into a really large undertaking,” she said. “It’s also a really huge reward for the community, so thank you for your willingness to kind of lead the effort and make it such a fun event.”
Property tax levy
On a 7-0 vote, councilors OK’d the second reading of Ordinance 22-031, which certifies the 2023 city of Brookings property tax levy to the Brookings County finance officer.
The previous year’s levy was certified at $3,659,001. Accounting for the growth factor and the Consumer Price Index, the 2023 levy is expected to be $3,814,322.
“I just want people to realize that we’re not increasing the property tax,” Mayor Oepke “Ope” Niemeyer said. “We’re just getting the increase in the value that has come about within the last year in the property that we have.
“The other thing is, too, I just want the public (to know that) amongst the cities in the state of South Dakota, Watertown is only lower than us as tax levies go,” Niemeyer noted. “We are one of the lowest tax levy cities in the state. The other ones next to us are at least double, if not four or five times more, than us.
“I just want people to realize that we’re not trying to tax them to death. We’ve had a few comments on emails, and I just want people to understand that we’re trying to be as fair as possible here and make sure that we’ll be able to provide services that people expect in this town,” Niemeyer continued. “But that comes at a cost, and I just want everybody to understand this is one of our revenues that we have. It’s not a lot – I mean, over a $60 million budget and we’ve got less than $4 million coming in property taxes.”
In other business, the council:
• Approved, 7-0, Resolution 22-079. This will allow City Manager Paul Briseno to sign and submit an application for financial help from the Transportation Alternatives Grant Program for the construction of a shared use path/trail and enhanced crosswalk.
A total of $460,000 will be sought for this project near Southland Lane on 12th Street South. That section of the street runs alongside Mickelson Middle School and the Boys & Girls Club of Brookings. The mid-block crosswalk and path/trail widening is expected to be especially useful when the area is busy with school-age children during school pickup and drop-off.
More details can be obtained at https://bit.ly/3LSdslX.
• Heard a report from the SDSU Students’ Association presented by Erika Van Nieuwenhuyse. She touched on topics including student concerns about Sodexo, the new campus food service provider, and also noted that the association is the sponsor for Saturday’s student tailgating at the Jackrabbits football game. She said the student tailgating will include a band and food trucks.
“It’ll be a great experience for students that maybe don’t get family members in town to come see student tailgating and have a place to go before the game and hang out with their friends,” Van Nieuwenhuyse said.
• On a 7-0 vote, approved Resolution 22-081, which awarded bids for 2022-23 contractor snow-removal equipment contracts.
Contact Mondell Keck at mkeck@brookingsregister.com.
