Council hears emergency alert plans, considers mobile park license renewal

The Lennox City Council met Monday, June 23 at Lennox City Hall. Mayor Danny Fergen and council members heard agenda items including an emergency management presentation, mobile park license renewal, and grant funding.

Lincoln County Emergency Management Director, Harold Timmerman, was present for a yearly update from his department. 

“There is nothing major to report other than last year during all that flooding, we used a new program called crisis track which was bought out by the state and it made it real simple to report damage,” he said. 

Timmerman reported the townships used the program tremendously as it was available through an app on their phones which could be used to help determine materials needed and costs for repair projects. Timmerman and the council discussed siren activation and new ways to alert the public of potential weather threats. 

“We are getting into a new program called Regroup, which will notify cell phones, you don’t have to download an app or anything, we’ve got over 16,000 cell phones loaded in the system already, so no matter where you are, if we need to notify you because of a hazmat thing or a fire or road closure or a tornado is coming, it will automatically activate your phone,” Timmerman said. 

The Council thanked Timmerman for his report.

Lennox Municipal Ordinances require the City Council’s approval of renewal licenses for each mobile home park each year. Each spring, the City’s Building Official and Code Official inspects each of the mobile home parks to confirm compliance with the City’s ordinances. The items scheduled for inspection, and the ordinances themselves, were developed with the assistance of the mobile home park owners in 2021. 

“The first inspection of the mobile home parks occurred on April 9, 2025, with results and recommended actions to take sent to the park owners that day. A re-inspection occurred in June, and the results of that inspection included in your packets. Based on the re-inspection and the neglect noted in that inspection, we cannot recommend renewal of the license for Standings Stones Inc Mobile Home Park. This is the one off of West 7th or Park Drive. If the City Council chooses to accept this recommendation, I recommend direction be provided to staff to coordinate the timing of closure of the two mobile home parks so as to give current tenants enough time to secure a new residence,” said City Administrator, Nate Vander Plaats. 

Owner of Standing Stones, Ron Tschetter stood to speak to the council and explain his park provides a place to live for those who are facing bad credit, hard times, family issues or more. 

“Not a single investor prior to me has made any attempt to upgrade any of this infrastructure, to receive new homes, and to fix the demographic in the park. We took it upon ourselves to do that,” he said. 

In the three years of ownership, agreements have been made with Sioux Steel for employee living, four new homes, including one brand new one have been added, and $100,000 worth of infrastructure has been invested in the property. 

“We have been involved in the condemning and destruction of almost a dozen homes over the decades that we’ve been doing this. We have never had the city come to us and say if you want to retain your license, you will do this or you’re not going to do it. You will evict three people from their home or you’re not going to get a license ever. I’ve never had a conversation like that,” he said. 

Tschetter said it will take seven to eight years worth of investment into the park before he will see a dime of his investment back, and the parks structural needs have to be addressed before the aesthetic wants of the council. 

“We have to look at it from a city as a whole where yes, there’s people that are struggling and have a hard time keeping up, but what about the people who live next door to them or adjacent to them when they have a rundown property that affects them as well? And that’s kind of the reason as why we have minimum standards that we need to try to upkeep to protect our neighbors,” said President Chad Swier. 

Swier asked Vander Plaats what the protocol was and why there wasn’t a conversation with the park owners. 

“Our protocol is to do the initial inspection in the spring and send in inspection report along with a letter, do a follow up inspection in June, along with a follow up letter,” Vander Plaats responded. 

“We got the letter, these people just can’t afford what you’re asking them to do,”  Tschetter said. 

Lauren Van Driel asked what the minimum amount of work that should be done for the property should be. 

“I would say bring it up to code. They’ve had since April already and now we’re extending into August. Mr. Huber asked for 60 days, he’s already had that, it would be 60 more and I think getting the properties that are called out up to standard is what is in order. They know what’s at stake and they know what it takes to keep this going. They’ve made an investment. Mr. Huber said three times that he inherited this. Well, that’s an investment,” said Vice President Bill Daugherty. 

Motion by Swier to approve the license for Long Creek, Hammerly Court, and Sunnyside Park, seconded by Billy Welch, motion carried. 

Motion to push back the decision on Standing Stones Park to August 25 by Swier seconded by Van Driel, motion carried.

The City of Lennox has secured significant grant funding for the reconstruction of Oriole Avenue in 2026. 

“We’ve secured about 75 percent of the cost of this project. At this point, we’re ready to move forward, but we need to fund our share of that project which is estimated at about $575,000,” Vander Plaats said. 

Two options are available to fund the project, the first is to use 2nd Penny Fund Balance and the second is to use sales tax bond. 

“The last option would be to combine that, maybe use some cash as well as a smaller sales tax bond to reduce our impact on the cash level as well as our annual debt services,” Vander Plaats said. 

“I think option three feels more comfortable, but option one is kind of a slam dunk in that we get to really use our second penny fund for what it’s intended for,” Vice President Daugherty said. 

No motion was needed for the funding, and the council directed Vander Plaats to go with option one and check into what the funding would look like if it was split.

The City of Lennox has agreed to participate in the expansion of the Lewis & Clark Regional Water System Expansion Project and must determine a funding method. 

“Toby and I were going over what we have traditionally planned here way back when we approved the extension for the Lewis and Clark to fund it with a water revenue bond, which is exactly how we paid for the first Lewis and Clark water system. I think we have five years left on that loan yet and we’d probably looking at about $90,000 in annual debt service resulting in a surcharge between $6 and $7 per month charge,” Vander Plaats said. 

No decisions were needed at this time but will be required in August when more information will be available on funding options. 

The City Council will hold a one-day retreat in 2025 to discuss goals and objectives for the next year. An outside consultant is recommended to facilitate this goal-setting process. 

“I did get two responses, one from Rick Melmer of RVM Consulting, I’ve known him for a while now, Rick will do this for $1,500. Paula Jensen knows Lennox as well, she facilitated the economic development planning process back in 2020 or 2021 through Dakota Resources and their proposal was just over $6,000,” Vander Plaats said. 

Motion to approve RVM Consulting by Swier, seconded by Van Driel, motion carried.