City invests in outreach, traffic study

The city of Brandon will spend $11,000 to determine if installing a turn signal or building a road is the best solution for Eagle Creek residents. 

The council approved Monday a proposal to update a 2009 traffic study at the intersections of Heritage Road and Holly Boulevard and Sandstone Avenue and Holly  Boulevard. The four-week study will determine if an increase in traffic, delays or accidents warrants a turn lane outside the Eagle Creek subdivision or extending Meadowbrook Trail to give those residents a second entrance and exit point in/out of the neighborhood. 

Council members’ concerns about the Brandon Valley School District’s upcoming winter break led city engineer Paul Sanow to agree to request that the traffic study be conducted in January, when buses are back on the roads, for more accurate data. 

The city council also approved a flat, water rate increase of 1.6 percent, or approximately 47 cents per month per customer, as well as a 79-cent per month sewer rate increase. 

Bryan Read, city administrator, said the city had opted for slight annual rate increases rather than big jumps every five years.   

“This way we’re at least keeping up with inflation,” he said.

Talk then turned to community outreach. 

Alderwoman Jo Hausman suggested the city council begin holding informal, Saturday morning “Coffee with the Council” gatherings at which residents could ask questions of council members. 

“It’s some way to be more proactive with the whole community so we can get more info out there about what’s going on,” Hausman said. “Lots of people hear stuff – good, bad, whatever. They just want to know. I think they’d feel more comfortable coming to an informal meeting.”

Alderman Jon McInerney described the frustration some residents may feel for the city’s lack of response to questions posted on Facebook. 

“It’s not our place; we’re not a media organization,” he said.

McInerney proposed the council also begin taking time at city council meetings to address questions members receive from residents in emails and phone calls or see frequently on Facebook, such as, “What is total dissolved solids?” and “Did the city pay too much for the Nelson water tower land?”

“Our goal is to get thousands of people to get answers to questions at one time,” McInerney said. 

Mayor Larry Beesley said the council would begin incorporating the questions and answers in the Visitors and Timed Items portion of its biweekly Monday night meetings, and coffee talks could begin in January 

“The more we communicate with the public, the better,” Beesley said. 

Alderman Don Wells briefed the council on the water development committee’s Nov. 28 meeting. The committee chair also said he’d had a change of heart, and after talking to several residents about Brandon’s water quality, he no longer felt that meeting state standards equated quality water.  

Wells said he had lined up guest speakers for the water committee’s next two meetings. The group will hear from the director of the Department of Natural Resources Tuesday, Dec. 12, and the state geologist and several hydrologists Tuesday, Dec. 19. 

He also hinted that the water committee likely won’t recommend the city stay on the current path regarding its water system. 

“After talking to DNR, there’s going to be, I think, some changes coming. Our path and our direction and our sources and our water quality might be changing,” Wells said. 

He estimated the committee will meet for four or five months. 

Water development committee member Tim Wakefield took the podium with a few ideas. Stating that Brandon did not have a reliable, high-producing back-up source of water should well 6 fail, he pushed for connecting to Minnehaha Community Water Corp. (MCWC) soon.

“Our window is closing to connect,” Wakefield said. “With Tru Shrimp going to Dell Rapids, they’re already asking for more water, and that’s the same water we’re going to be asking for.”

“It might not be a half-bad idea. Maybe we don’t turn the handle, but we need to talk about this,” Wells said. 

Council members said they wanted to see the recommendation come from the water committee itself. They said the same about Wakefield’s next suggestion: hiring an engineering firm to do a peer review of Brandon’s water system. Angie Nemmers, a water committee member and quality review specialist at Avera, agreed. 

Wells said he’d add the topics to the upcoming agenda and have a recommendation regarding MCWC at the council’s next meeting. 

Read said conversation with MCWC had been ongoing since the summer and three things were needed before making a decision: how much water MCWC can supply Brandon and for how long, the cost of that water, and a chemical analysis. 

Beesley agreed it was worth exploring.

“Let’s turn over every rock,” he said. 

The city council also approved the following items on Dec. 4: 

• A one-day malt liquor license to Building Blocks that will allow the child care center to include wine tasting at its Dec. 15 vendor shopping night;

• The city to sign a letter regarding a tax credit for Marmen Energy;

• Renewal of contracts for A-OK, Marv’s, Bolte and RBS to provide garbage disposal service in Brandon in 2018;

• Plat tract 1 water tower second addition.

The council will hold its next regular meeting at 6 p.m. Monday, Dec. 18, at council chambers.