Informational Meeting

MINUTES Informational Meeting Tuesday, June 22, 2021 at 4:00 PM Carnegie Town Hall, 235 West 10th St., Sioux Falls, SD 57104 1. Call To Order Council Members Present: Janet Brekke, Christine M. Erickson, Rick Kiley, Greg Neitzert, Marshall Selberg, Curt Soehl, Pat Starr Council Members Absent: Alex Jensen Council Chair Curt Soehl called the meeting to order at 4 p.m. 2. Committee/Commission Reports A. Multi-Cultural Center Intergovernmental Board: Wednesday, June 16, 2021 (Council Member Starr) Council Member Pat Starr reported that the board is working on their financials and accessing their fall and winter after school programming. B. South Dakota Municipal League Board of Directors: Wednesday, June 16, 2021 (Council Member Erickson) Council Member Christine M. Erickson reported that the Board met recently in Lake Andes. They spoke about: membership; upcoming meetings, including the annual conference on October 5th in Spearfish; paying off their building; and ensuring accurate sales tax reporting. C. Experience Sioux Falls - BID Board: Tuesday, June 22, 2021 (Council Member Brekke) Council Member Janet Brekke reported that the board discussed: their ranking compared to other comparable cities; receiving the most hits on their website, since 2015, due to an article in AAA magazine regarding chislic; improvement in the categories of leisure travel activity and sports; and still lagging behind in the area of convention business. 3. Councilor Remarks There were none. 4. Presentations A. Sam OnDemand Update by Sam Trebilcock, Senior Planner Presentation: Approximately 15 minutes followed by discussion Trebilcock spoke about the information collected six months into the pilot project. He began by reviewing the program's background and why the pilot program was done. Due to growth in the City, a new way to provide transit services was needed. Transit is considered a critical issue to innovate. The goal of the pilot is to "understand how and if mass transit on-demand can increase service area and hours while meeting operational and economic requirements." Some of the service information collected includes: 20 minute average ride time; 11 minutes average wait time; 75% of the trips are completed early or on time; 4,096 unlinked passenger trips; and 5,540 ODT trip requests. Two fixed routes were added on May 1st, for east and west routes. Trebilcock spoke about ridership, which ranged from 210 to 293 riders per Saturday in January through April; and ranged from 131 to 193 riders per Saturday in May and June, when the fixed routes were added. A problem with the on-demand service is that people aren't willing to schedule their own rides or they are no-shows for their scheduled pick up. The majority of requests were made through dispatch, but more people are starting to use the self-service option. The most popular pick ups and drop offs were the bus depot, Walmart East and Walmart West. Trebilcock said that kind of data is extremely helpful. One of the benefits of the program is that ride times improved and buses were allowed on the Interstate. Trebilcock spoke about the program findings, which were: the changes made to the service area and planning parameters have improved service for riders; trip requests have been widely distributed across the service area since launch; more work needs to be completed to improve the reliability of SAM On Demand services; more work needs to be completed to improve the education/marketing of the SAM On-Demand rider; and more work needs to be completed to improve the equity of SAM On Demand. Some of the next steps, over the next year, includes: adding fixed-stop locations; adding more Saturday fixed-routes; adding Paratransit with SAM On Demand; expand the Saturday services to the north; and get more right size vehicle fleet. Discussion followed regarding: the data generated was worth the cost; fixed routes; hours; challenges with bus sizes; Paratransit on Saturdays; adding stops to tax credit housing; the importance of the collected data; marketing the program; average wait times; charge for no shows; current transit not sustainable with the City's growth; rider surveys; adding routes to Foundation Park; service time; and capital cost to replace buses. B. Tomar Park Tennis Courts by Lydia Healy, Sioux Falls Tennis Association Executive Director Presentation: Approximately 15 minutes followed by discussion Healy spoke about the vision to bring 12 tennis courts to one location. She began by providing a brief history of the Sioux Falls Tennis Association and discussed some of the issues with having to use multiple courts for tournaments and not being able to have some tournaments because there isn't a large enough venue. Healy said the local tournaments have more than doubled with players in the past four years. The organization's mission is to "provide resources, programs, and leadership to promote and grow the game of tennis to people of all ages, genders, and origins in Sioux Falls and the surrounding communities." She mentioned the  Board of Directors and the Campaign Steering Committee. Healy explained why Tomar Park was chosen: it currently has two existing courts; there is flat land with room to expand; access is near the Interstate for statewide tournaments; it's located on a SAM route; and it's in a flood plain area for redevelopment. She said the spot seemed like a "no brainer". The land is available to SFTA if they can raise $3M. Healy explained how there would be more than tennis courts with the potential upgrade. Additions would include: more parking, a basketball court, and sand volleyball court. The variety of sporting options would make this a "family friendly destination", according to Healy. Overall, the tennis complex would give them the ability to host larger high school, college and USTA tournaments. So far, the group has raised $1.85M and need the City to donate more than $500,000 to enable a $200,000 Match from GreatLife Cares Foundation. Currently there is a $1.05M gap. Council Member Marshall Selberg left the meeting at 5:10 p.m. Discussion followed regarding: where tournaments, league play and lessons currently take place; capacity at Lincoln High School for tennis; what the donation would be used for; past fundraising; tournament information and a sponsorship for $5,000 each for both the men's and women's champion; the long range vision; the exact ask amount; who will build the courts; what is the compensation for programing; the courts at McKennan and Kuehn parks; how much it would cost the City to run the programs; providing equipment and no charge for those who can't afford lessons; court lighting; goals; and an "amazing" return on investment. C. Avera 24/7 Urgent Care Facility by Robin Prunty, Avera McKennan Foundation Vice President Presentation: Approximately 15 minutes followed by discussion Prunty began by outlining the presentation, of the four story addition, and introducing Thomas Otten, Assistant Vice President of Avera Behavioral Health Services. Otten said in the last several years they have seen an increase in behavioral health needs. He said they have been full and it's hard to turn people away. Suicides are up, along with anxiety and depression. Otten noted how COVID has changed mental health. The Avera Behavioral Health Center serves five regions, discharges approximately 6,000 patients per year, but will discharge about 7,000 patients this year, according to Otten. The hospital's emergency room receives 2,500 patients annually, who are suffering from a mental health crisis; and 1,500 people are taken to Avera on mental health holds annually. The proposed addition would have four floors, which would include: a 24-hour psychiatric urgent care; partial hospitalization for up to 30 adults and 10 youth; a shell for future expansion; a four-bed addition for adults; a senior behavioral unit; a 14-bed child unit addition; and eight beds for youth residential addiction care. Prunty spoke about their goals, which included being able to reduce the time that the police are tied up on a hold. Officers can currently stay up to two hours on a hold, the goal is to reduce it down to 30 minutes. This will be a $28M+ facility. Prunty spoke about the leadership team. She also relayed messages from the public.  Discussion followed regarding: the need for the facility; how it works with The Link; cost savings for other agencies; lengthier stays in the ER becoming more common for kids; how Council Members are dealing with mental health issues in their families; mental health holds have to go to the Heart Hospital; the potential for more mental health challenges due to marijuana; the United States is behind in treating people with mental health issues; expressing gratitude for the proposal; and how The Link is already saving lives. 5. Public Comment There was none. 6. Adjournment Council Chair Curt Soehl adjourned the meeting at 5:43 p.m. Denise D. Tucker, MMC, Assistant City Clerk