City Council Study Session

City of Spearfish City Council Study Session Minutes January 10, 2024, 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, January 10, 2024. The following c o u n c i l members were present: Clark, Hodgs, Hourigan, Jacobs, Klarenbeek, and Rath. Absent: None. City staff present were: City Attorney McDonald, Public Safety Director Rotert, Finance Officer DeNeui, Interim Public Works Director McMahon, City Planner Kapsa, and Parks and Recreation Director Ehnes. Clark moved, Hourigan seconded, and all voted to approve the agenda as presented. Items for Council Discussion: Lawrence County Coalition – Michelle May and Shelly Lammers from Lawrence County Coalition (LCC) provided information on services and grants available to all businesses and residents of Lawrence County. The mission of LCC is, “mobilizing the community to promote health, positive & substance-free lifestyles”. LCC offers Drug Free Community grants to assist businesses and organizations with Techniques of Alcohol Management (TAM) training costs, offers the check-out of ID scanners, and grants to provide signage for drug and/tobacco free places. LCC also recently received a grant to provide Mental Health Awareness Training. Several training types are available for businesses that are evidence based and nationally certified mental health awareness trainings that are at low or no cost surrounding suicide prevention, mental health first aid, and customizable trainings that would meet the needs of workplaces, communities, churches, and other locations. Information on LCC is available on their website: www.lawrencecountycoalition.com Update from Building Official Jones – Building Official Riley Jones noted that the Building Department performs plumbing, mechanical, and building inspections for commercial and residential construction. The State of South Dakota provides all electrical inspections which is causing some delays in inspections, but Jones will be working to seek support to change state laws on that in the coming years. The city has adopted the 2021 Internal Code Council building codes by ordinance so that sets the minimum construction standards. The city can adopt more stringent codes but not less because the state has also adopted the same 2021 code. Certifications of inspectors determine which inspection type(s) each inspector can perform. The Building Department recently held an open house for contractors in Spearfish. Key topics during the open house were to review the new software for license and permits, inspection scheduling, and plan review. Contractors raised concerns about additional inspections and scheduling of inspections. A goal of Jones is to have a task force to determine how to streamline the scheduling of inspections. Looking forward to 2024 the Building Department is looking to enforce basement insulation, engineered plans, and range hoods for construction. Ordinance revisions are being drafted to move to the 2024 ICC code, introduction of re-roof permits to protect homeowners, and to simplify ordinances to align with ICC code requirements. Some fee revisions are being evaluated to simplify the permit fee structure to be based on square footage instead of valuation, eliminating redundant fees, implementing a re-inspection fee and a fee for occupying without a Certificate of Occupancy fee. All fees and code changes will be presented to the council for formal adoption at future meetings. Evans Park Rocketship – Jared “Cappie” Capp reviewed the progress on the refurbishment of the rocketship structure at Evans Park. Currently the volunteer group has covers/hoods for the slides and handles yet to be completed. Those items will be fabricated on site so will be done in the spring, weather dependent. Parks and Recreation Director Ehnes noted that the volunteers have met all Americans with Disabilities Act (ADA) and structural engineering requirements for the slide. The only item left is to have the structure certified that it meets playground safety standards. The initial inspectors that performed the safety standards inspection are not willing to return to inspect the refurbished structure. The options available to the City are to hire an inspector from a different organization or insurance company at an estimated cost of $10,000-$20,000 or send two staff members to training to become Certified Playground Safety Inspectors (CPSI). Ehnes noted that having CPSI certifications for staff would be beneficial to the City and is within the existing budget of the parks divisions. City Council Agenda: Draft Agenda – The draft agenda for January 16, 2024, City Council Regular Session was reviewed. The public comment period was opened at 4:57 p.m. and closed with no comments being received. No additional discussions were held and with a motion from Hodgs, and second from Hourigan, the meeting was adjourned at 4:57 p.m.