Wells talks water woes

By: 
Jamie Hult, Journal staff writer

Don Wells, Ward 2 Brandon City Councilman, was sworn into office in May.

New councilman enjoys Brandon behind the scenes

 

Working with the insiders and department heads who help Brandon run smoothly is what Don Wells enjoys most about serving on city council.

“Working with people in the different departments to make the city run efficiently – that’s it in a nutshell. It takes a lot of people skills and understanding of the departments and how they work so you can better assess the decisions that are in front of you,” Wells said. 

Growing up in Florida with a dad on city council and, later, mayor, Wells learned early what it’s like to be behind the scenes of a city. He also learned he liked it.

“I don’t mind being the one making decisions. I enjoy that aspect of it and the leadership,” Wells said.

The former commercial airline pilot and car dealership owner also comes from a science background. Wells was studying pre-med in the Caribbean when he was recruited into the field early.

As a consultant for Stryker Spine, Wells helps hospitals install and learn to operate equipment to perform advanced spinal procedures. He uses those people and planning skills in his role on city council.

As a member of the city’s water and sewer committee, he’s busily digging into Brandon’s biggest corncerns. Both, he said, boil down to a lack of storage.

“Right now I think there’s a lot of planning that needs to be mapped out for our water systems,” Wells said. “This water shortage is kind of a symptom of what is going on. When it comes to water towers and water shortage and water treatment and then the same thing goes for sewer. Right now we’re sending our sewer to Sioux Falls, and we can’t do that forever. The lift station is just a temporary cure.”

A new sewer treatment facility is in Brandon’s future for the city to run its sewer department efficiently, he said. “Whether it’s 5, 10, 20 years from now. Because right now it’s costing us a lot of money to ship it to Sioux Falls.”

Wells said a permanent watering schedule – every other day – would eliminate the the recent shortage, which led the council to level a ban on lawn watering at its July 17 meeting. That morning the city’s tower didn’t hold enough water to put out a major structure fire. The city also began falling back on untreated well water in June. 

“I think it comes down to education,” Wells said. “Because at that point the residents are educated on, number one, how much they need to water, rather than watering every day, which is not necessary to maintain a healthy lawn; educate them on the fact that a typical yard needs an inch a week and that can be accomplished even twice a week.  At the most, three times a week.”

Another immediate concern for Wells is that Eastern & Ellis Railroad will likely reactivate its line through town and store rail cars on the tracks, potentially impacting safety, noise and traffic congestion in Brandon’s city limits. 

“It’s not something anybody in the city wants,” Wells said. “But at the very least maybe not having them store those cars within our city limits. If we can even accomplish that goal, that’s huge. Graffiti-painted railroad cars around town is not aesthetically pleasing.” 

The project, which will include repairing track, is slated to take place within five years. 

Wells remains optimistic, however.

“Some people will say there’s nothing you can do. I don’t think like that. I think we can at least give it a good college effort and see if there’s some happy medium.”

It’s this diplomatic attitude that drives Wells.

“Working with people is one of my favorite things to do in life and one of the things I really appreciate that I can do in this position on city council,” he said. 

“It’s understanding people and their needs and having them understand you and your needs. That’s how this position works to everyone’s benefit. If everybody can understand and be educated on how things work and what needs to happen, I think everybody can be happy in the end.”

Wells lives in Brandon with his wife, Sarah, and daughters, Alea, 10, and Alyson, 8. 

 

Category:

The Brandon Valley Journal

 

The Brandon Valley Journal
1404 E. Cedar St.
Brandon, SD 57005
(605) 582-9999

Email Us

Facebook Twitter

Please Login for Premium Content