City creates tree rebate, prepares for code official transition: Mayor proclaims Aug. 24 as Alan Rops Day for decades of community service

The Lennox City Council met Monday, August 24. 

Mayor, Danny Fergen began the meeting by reading a Mayoral Proclamation to Alan Rops for his longtime service to the Lennox Lion’s Club. The proclamation reads: “WHEREAS, Alan Rops was among the Lennox Lions Club’s initial 36 charter members; and WHEREAS, Alan Rops served as club president several times in his 48 years of membership; and WHEREAS, The Club lives by the motto “We Serve”; and WHEREAS, Alan Rops was a key member in several service initiatives over the years including the aluminum can recycling program; and WHEREAS, Alan Rops played the part of both a Lion member and a Lennox Area Community Fund member each year by helping solicit sponsorships for the annual Firecracker Fun Run during Lennox Old Fashioned Fourth of July celebration; and WHEREAS, The Lennox Lions Club sponsored the charter for Cub Scouts Pack 109. WHEREAS, In 2002, the Lennox Lions Club raised funds and received a $10,000 grant from Tony Hawk to build the skate park that stands in Westerman Park today; and WHEREAS, The community wishes to thank Alan Rops for his service not only to the Lennox Lions Club, but to the community. His leadership and dedication to Lennox is inspiring and we aspire to carry on this level of service for years to come, NOW, THEREFORE, be it resolved that I, Danny Fergen, Mayor of Lennox, South Dakota, proclaim August 24, 2026, Alan Rops Day. I encourage all residents to thank Alan Rops for his decades of service to our community.”

City Administrator, Nate Vander Plaats introduced a tree rebate to account for updated ordinances and programs. 

“Lennox is introducing a tree rebate to account for updated ordinances and programs. Number one, our conservation ordinance is effective in 2025 allows for a rebate on projects requiring removal of existing trees. Number two, our Emerald Ash Borer mitigation plan, has called for it as well. This program is largely modeled after the Tea program. The rebate is at $100/tree or $200/ max per property. Given the number of trees that will need to be replaced in future years, we have structured it to be dependent on the availability of funds, and will schedule our first amount in the FY 2027 budget,” he said.

President Chad Swier asked if this was going to be a one year program or if this was intended to be a long term solution. 

“I think it’ll be for a few years. For the conservation ordinance, I don’t know how much we’ll actually use it because the trees we are taking out we are putting back in,” Vander Plaats responded. 

Motion was made to approve creation of Tree Rebate Program by Lauren VanDriel, seconded by Laura Thiesse, motion carried unanimously.

No petitions were filed to fill the Ward 3 Council Seat at this year’s election. 

“In the past these vacancies we’ve gone with the application and appointment route. You can appoint or you can have a special election. We are too close to the November election so it would have to be after the November election which we would have to run ourselves. So if the direction is to appoint I have a draft schedule that works and gives us plenty of time to do our due diligence on any applications that do come in,” Vander Plaats said. 

“Have we had any interest?” Thiesse questioned. 

“Yes, I reached out to an individual that we spoke to when Ward 3 was open in the past to see if they were interested and they’re kind of still waiting to see. Another individual reached out to me directly and personally about the opening and interest in serving,” said Daugherty.

Motion to accept the application to fill an expected Ward 3 vacancy with the amended date of October 19 was made by Daugherty, seconded by Thiesse, motion carried unanimously.

The City of Hartford has notified the City of Lennox of their intent to us our shared Building/Code Official position as a full-time position solely for Hartford starting in January, 2027. 

“As you know our shared building and code official position with Hartford is returning to Hartford full-time starting in January so we need to discuss exactly how we intend to fill that position going forward,” Vander Plaats said. 

“Having spoken with two other communities who are interested in this kind of service as well and are trying to fill a gap in their current service offerings, that seems to be the most likely and the most efficient and economical use of our time and funds,” he continued. 

Vander Plaats is going to research more into the surrounding communities at job descriptions and return back on the 14th with more information.