Lennox City Council discusses food truck permit exemption and water shutoff policy

The Lennox City Council met Monday, May 11. 

Mayor Danny Fergen began the meeting with a Mayoral Proclamation from the City of Lennox that states: WHEREAS, the 2026 Lennox Orioles Girls Basketball Team ended the season with a record of 22 wins and 3 losses; and WHEREAS, the 2026 Lennox Orioles Girls Basketball Team competed against the best teams in South Dakota at the 2026 State Basketball Tournament; and WHEREAS, the Lennox Orioles Girls Basketball Team represented the entire Lennox community with their appreciation for teamwork, sportsmanship, and competition; and WHEREAS, the Lennox Orioles Girls Basketball Team posted a dominating performance at the State Basketball Tournament, winning the 2026 Class A Girls Basketball Championship; and WHEREAS, the Lennox Orioles Girls Basketball Team is comprised of Coach Adam Quail, Assistant Coach Paul McVey, Assistant Coach Kray Person, Teagan Sturm, Adie McVey, Libby Kranz, Izzy Vargas, Peyton Herlyn, Bergan Musser, Allison Loewe, Mia Hanisch, Jayla DeCou, Catie Sherard, Kenzie Bosma, Andie Peters, Karlie Bosma, Tori Gerdes, Olivia Niederbaumer. NOW, THEREFORE, be it resolved that I, Danny Fergen, Mayor of Lennox, South Dakota, proclaim April 13, 2026, Lennox Orioles Girls Basketball Day. 

“I encourage all residents to congratulate the Lennox Orioles Girls Basketball team for their outstanding season,” concluded the Mayoral Proclamation. 

The City of Lennox is considering an amendment to Chapter 4 of the Municipal Ordinance. 

“You will recall some discussion earlier this year on Chapter 4 as it relates to peddlers licensing. What we’re trying to do here is exempt food trucks from the existing regulations for a peddlers permit. I do think there is some room in there to do this, but I think it’s easier if we can make it perfectly clear that these are specifically exempted,” City Administrator, Nate Vander Plaats said. 

“I think it’s a little bit discouraging to a small business if they have to come in and pay our peddler’s fee plus a booth fee at the event,” Alderman Lauren Van Driel said. 

“I like the idea of making it less of a bottleneck or less of an obstacle to get vendors in,” said President Chad Swier. 

Agreeing that the license would work best for door-to-door peddlers and not vendors at fairs, the council agreed to table the motion until more research is done.

Utilities Superintendent, Kyle Ramynke requested the City of Lennox manage delinquent water accounts without a formal standardized process. To improve consistency and ensure compliance with City ordinances, a Water Shutoff and Reconnection Standard Procedure is being developed. 

“The purpose for this formal process is just because we didn’t gave anything written and we had a lot of inconsistencies of how shut offs were handled, notices, reconnections, and how payments are issued. There was some communication errors between utility billing staff, finance, and myself, so I wanted to put a process out there to kind of clean up how accounts are handled,” he said. 

Ramynke expressed the procedure would formally establish how billing and shut off timelines are as currently bills are due on the 5th of each month with a late fee applying after the fifth giving three weeks before water is shut off the last Monday of the month. A payment policy will be available for those experiencing hardships or medical hardships. 

“We do currently have that in the ordinance, but I think we need to develop a more formal form for that,” he said. 

With many remaining questions on pricing and limitations, the council agreed to table discussions on delinquent water accounts until the next meeting.