City Council Study Session

City of Spearfish City Council Study Session Minutes August 16, 2023, 4:15 p.m. The City Council Study Session was called to order by Mayor Senden at 4:15 p.m. in the Council Chambers of City Hall on Wednesday, August 16, 2023. The following c o u n c i l members were present: Clark, Hourigan, Jacobs, Klarenbeek, and Rath. Absent: Hodgs. City staff present were: City Attorney McDonald, Finance Officer DeNeui, Public Safety Director Rotert, Public Works Director Broyles, City Planner Kapsa, Parks and Recreation Director Ehnes, and City Engineer Mathis. Clark moved, Klarenbeek seconded, and all voted to approve the agenda as presented. Items for Council Discussion: Pay-to-Play – Parks and Recreation Director Ehnes reviewed the field areas under the City and the organizations that have memorandum of understandings for the use of those fields. Most organizations do the minor maintenance (mowing, weed control, and field striping) of the fields and Parks staff do major repairs or long-term maintenance for the fields. This process won’t work for the new Sky Ridge Sportsplex as it contains 40 acres of field space. To assist in covering the additional cost of field maintenance to all City fields, a pay-to-play format should be evaluated. Ehnes also noted that staff coordinate field use and care responsibilities with 23 different organizations. Most organizations remit specific schedules for field usage, but some are less specific. Additionally, those organizations that do perform maintenance of the fields receive ‘preference’ in scheduling time but that isn’t defined. Ehnes requested the council create a task force to evaluate a pay-to-play format. Comments were taken from several sports organizations and residents. Clair Donovan, resident, spoke against the pay-to-play format and reviewed the past contributions that he and several other businesses and sports organizations have made to the fields, concessions stands, lights, and scoreboards. Mr. Donovan also volunteered for the task force. Ryan Hughes, representing Spearfish Baseball, noted that his organization has contributed to projects at the existing baseball fields and since the new fields are not for baseball, they shouldn’t have to pay. Jared Lueders, representing Spearfish Adult Softball Association, noted that his organization is willing to pay for field use. He would just like to know how much so that the organization can plan for the added costs. Josh McGillvrey, representing Spearfish Soccer, thanked the council for construction of the Sky Ridge Sportsplex and noted that the organization is contributing $100,000 in field goals, nets, and field paint already. He doesn’t want to see a pay-to-play format as they don’t want to raise their fees. The organization currently charges all participants the same amounts and increasing those may reduce participation. Kirk Easton, representing Spearfish School District, noted that partnerships are key to making all sports activities in Spearfish a success. He suggested that the organizations assist with costs for improvements to the facilities but not the operational costs. Troy Ihde and Heidi Johnson, representing Spearfish Youth Baseball and Softball Association, noted that a pay-to-play format would raise their participants’ fees. They also thanked the council for constructing the Sportsplex. Council member Clark questioned why non-local sports teams were allowed to use fields that have maintenance done by the local sports association without a fee. Council member Hourigan noted that scheduling and field priority is a problem that should be solved. Council member Jacobs and Mayor Senden thanked everyone for their comments on the topic. City Standards and Specifications – City Engineer Mathis reviewed the proposed changes to the standards and specifications for developments. Changes are to create a ‘Hillside’ City Roadway section. This will allow for hillside access within development areas that may require a smaller width access road through steep topography in which a typical City roadway section may be too wide to reasonably construct. This section would have specific guidelines for roadway slopes and catch slopes (that are recommended by a Geotechnical engineer), reduced right-of-way width and no parking, but still meet International Fire Code. The property directly abutting the City right-of-way would be required to be Homeowners Association (HOA) open space tracts. The final change is to development above existing City water system (gravity) service limits. This item was previously discussed with Council, however, staff recommends that the systems be owned and maintained by the City including the booster station but implement an additional water fee that would be charged to those lots (or to the HOA) to help offset the additional costs of operating, maintaining, repairing and replacing the booster station. City Council Agenda: Draft Agenda – The draft agenda for the August 21, 2023, City Council Regular Session was previewed. The public comment period was opened at 5:32 p.m. and closed with no comments being received. No additional discussions were held and with a motion from Hourigan, seconded from Jacobs, the meeting was adjourned at 5:34 p.m.