Lennox secures $840,000 grant for East Oriole Avenue

The Lennox City Council met Monday, June 9 at Lennox City Hall. With all members present, Mayor Danny Fergen and the council members heard agenda items including drying bed updates, new ordinances, and museum and bandshell changes.

Mayor Fergen asked City Administrator, Nate Vander Plaats if there was anything worth highlighting on the consent agenda. 

“A couple things, we have the planning commission reappointment for Liz Stanton. Liz’s term is up and she has agreed to serve another two years. There’s also a special event application for the Lennox Lions Club’s Firecracker Fun Run with no major changes from any of the past years, and everyone has been notified that should be. We got a big news item today, the South Dakota Governor’s Office of Economic Development announced that we were approved for an $840,000 grant for the community development block grant we applied for earlier this year and that will be used for East Oriole Avenue. This will be in addition to the $600,000 we’ve gotten from the Department of Transportation for the approximately $2.2 million project,” Vander Plaats said.   

East Oriole Avenue serves the middle and high schools and a business area.

Alderman Bill Daugherty asked Vander Plaats for an update on the City Engineers completion of drying bed drops. 

“We’re about 60 percent. We had a plan review this afternoon over lunch, everything is looking really good. We had a couple of really technical aspects we had to look at today just in terms of how the new equalization pond will work with the existing equalization pond when we’re trying to empty it. So making sure those elevations are where they need to be so we’re not solving the problem on one end and creating the problem on another” Vander Plaats responded. 

In old business, Ordinance 659 – Habitat Conservation, the City of Lennox has an opportunity to engage in positive practices benefiting the community. 

“The first reading of this ordinance was achieved at the May 27 City Council meeting. There have been no changes since that time,” said Vander Plaats.

The Ordinance reads: BE IT ORDAINED BY THE CITY COUNCIL OF LENNOX, SOUTH DAKOTA THAT CHAPTERS 6.0506 AND 6.0611 ARE ESTABLISHED AS FOLLOWS: 6.0506 Trees Removed by City. In the event that trees are removed from the City’s right- of-way in the course of construction or other improvements that otherwise require removal, the City of Lennox shall provide a reimbursement credit for purchase of a replacement tree. The reimbursement credit amount shall be set annually by City Council resolution. 6.0611 Native Plantings Required. Drainage areas and open areas that are otherwise undesignated for use shall be covered by an approved South Dakota native mixed grass prairie or other similar seed mix and shall be managed as such. Motion by Daugherty, seconded by Billy Welch, motion carried.

The Council also heard the second reading of Ordinance 661 – Legal Fees as the City of Lennox is spending significant funds on pursing legal action in code enforcement cases. 

“This ordinance was read at the last Cit Council meeting, and there have been no changes since then,” said Vander Plaats. 

The ordinance reads: Ordinance 661 Recovery of Legal Fees BE IT ORDAINED BY THE CITY COUNCIL OF LENNOX, SOUTH DAKOTA THAT CHAPTER 3.0113 IS AMENDED AS FOLLOWS: 3.0113 - Public Nuisance Penalty and Remedy. Any person who creates, commits, maintains or fails to abate a public nuisance as required under the provisions of this Chapter may be charged with a Class 2 Misdemeanor. A separate offense shall be deemed committed on each day during or on which a violation occurs or continues. In addition, the City may also use the remedies of civil action and abatement as set forth in SDCL 21-10-5 through 21-10-9, and the offending person will be responsible to pay all attorney’s fees and costs incurred by the City in such civil action seeking abatement. Any person given notice of an abatement shall be charged an administrative fee as set by resolution by the Lennox City Council. THAT CHAPTER 1.05 OF THE LENNOX ZONING REGULATIONS IS AMENDED AS FOLLOWS: It is unlawful to erect, construct, reconstruct, alter, maintain or use any building or structure, or to use any land in violation of any regulation in this Ordinance. Any person, firm, association or corporation who violates, disobeys, omits, neglects or refuses to comply with, or resists the enforcement of any of the provisions of this Ordinance shall be punishable by a fine of five hundred dollars, by imprisonment not exceeding thirty days, or by both the fine and imprisonment together with the cost of the action; every day of violation shall constitute a separate offense. The offending person, firm, association or corporation will be responsible to pay all attorney’s fees and costs incurred by the City in any civil action that is commenced by the City against the offending person, firm, association or corporation seeking to enforce any regulation in this Ordinance or to address any violation of any regulation in this Ordinance. THAT CHAPTER 109.4 OF THE LENNOX INTERNATIONAL PROPERTY MAINTANENCE CODE BE AMENDED BY INSERTING THE FOLLOWING: 109.4 Violation Penalties. Any person who shall violate a provision of this code, or fail to comply therewith, or with any of the requirements thereof, shall be prosecuted within the limits provided by state or local laws. Each day that a violation continues after due notice has been served shall be deemed a separate offense. The person who violates any provision of this code will be responsible to pay all attorney’s fees and costs incurred by the City in any civil action seeking to enforce any provision of this code or to address any violation of any provision of this code. Motion by Welch, seconded by Daugherty, motion carried.

In new business, Vander Plaats presented Change Order #2 as several changes have been requested on the Museum and Bandshell projects. 

“Several changes were requested on the museum and bandshell projects, the actual construction changes are both at the bandshell, so if you recall, we were cutting the existing door and hoping that that was going to work, but it was way too short and any normal sized person is going to hit their head on it. So, we’re going to replace that with a full size metal door. We’re also replacing all the lights at the band shell, replacing those with LED’s that are appropriate for what we’re using the facility for. We’re also changing the project completion date to June 20, the original completion date was June 3, but we obviously didn’t hit that. The total cost of all changes is $6,769.10,” Vander Plaats said. Motion by Lauren Van Driel, seconded by Rob Peterson, motion carried.