By Dave Baumeister, County Correspondent
SIOUX FALLS — Auditor Ben Kyte presented a variety of key numbers and statistics on November’s general election during this week’s Minnehaha County Commission meeting.
In his briefing, Kyte reported that for the election, his office hired over 500 workers for all aspects of the voting and counting process.
All together, 75,579 people voted, representing 58% of the total number of registered voters in the county.
He also said that of the 46 different races in the election, there was only one recount, and that was for the District 15 House of Representatives race. That recount showed a new difference that was only off by two votes from the original total, and that number did not affect the outcome of that election, Kyte explained.
Of all the ballots cast, 16,658 (22%) were absentee ballots and just under 60,000 were cast on the day of the election.
Through training and a color-coding system, Kyte said workers were able to address issues that arose during the June primary election with people in split precincts getting incorrect ballots.
License renewal
Although the agenda for the meeting was very full, the only issue that saw any contention was the re-issuing of a medical cannabis license for Genesis Farms, LLC of Sioux Falls.
While the dispensary has not yet opened, last year, a conditional use permit was granted so it could go into the current location of the Alibi Bar just east of Sioux Falls on Highway 42.
The reason for the CUP was due to its proximity to a fire station in the area.
However, one nearby resident who owns a daycare facility in that area, said she had not been notified when the permit was originally issued and didn’t want to see the license renewed.
Planning Director Scott Anderson told commissioners that all the required rules of publication and notifying property owners in the 500-foot surrounding area were followed when the CUP was issued.
It turned out that in the daycare owner’s own testimony, her property is at a 509-foot distance, so it is outside of the area required to receive personal letters.
However, as Commission Chair Cindy Heiberger and Commissioner Dean Karsky pointed out, the motion before them was not the conditional use permit, which was approved in 2021, but whether to renew the license.
As the business has not yet opened, there were no license violations to affect the application, which was approved on a 5-0 vote.
Emmett Reistroffer of Genesis Farms said they hoped to have the new dispensary open by May of 2023.
The bar currently in that location is slated to move in March.
The next meeting of the county commission will be at 9 a.m. Tuesday, Dec. 20, in the third-floor commission room of the Minnehaha County Administration Building.
At that time there will also be a reception for retiring commissioners Heiberger and Jeff Barth, to which the public is invited.
