By Dave Baumeister, County Correspondent
SIOUX FALLS – Along with adopting the 2022 budget, this week, the Minnehaha County Commission amended their zoning ordinance to deal with medical marijuana dispensaries.
But because of some wording changes made to the licensing and regulations ordinance, Eric Bogue from the State’s Attorney’s office suggested they have a “third reading” (or delay of the second reading) at the Tuesday, Oct. 5 meeting.
While Bogue said that the changes were mainly grammatical and dealt with some wording issues, he felt they were not substantive enough to require the third reading, but because there were a large amount of those changes, he said it would be prudent to give commissioners, as well as the public, a chance to digest them all.
Commissioner Jean Bender agreed with this idea.
“I don’t see a downside to this,” she said. “It’s always more appropriate to educate the public better.”
A motion for the delay was made and seconded by Commissioners Jeff Barth and Cindy Heiberger and passed unanimously.
Just before this, the commission did vote 5-0 to change the Minnehaha County Zoning Ordinance to allow for medical marijuana dispensaries in Commercial and I-1 Light Ag zoned areas.
To automatically put a dispensary in these areas, that business must meet all of the 11 stipulations, which include registration with the SD Department of Health, a 1,000-foot set-back from homes, schools, parks, etc., no drive-thru service or external sales, security measures, among other requirements.
However, if a business does not meet the requirements, the owners can still apply for a conditional use permit to operate their dispensary.
The process is that an application is made with the Planning and Zoning Department and then the planning board votes on it.
If anyone disagrees with the decision of that board, it can be appealed to the entire Minnehaha County Commission.
If the commission adopts their licensing ordinance on Oct. 5, they will then set license fees for medical marijuana businesses.
Bogue suggested that they do this separately from the regular zoning and licensing ordinances to allow for the commission to amend its fee structure in the future without having to go through several readings of a proposed ordinance.
While no one was present this week to speak for or against any of the marijuana ordinances, that opportunity will be available again on Oct. 5 before a vote on the final licensing ordinance is taken.
Also, Bogue mentioned that Oct. 5 was the date the state is expected to present its regulations on medicinal marijuana.
Last June, the county voted to give themselves 60 days after state regulations were released to finalize their own, but it looks as if everything might fall into place on the same day.
FY2022 budget
The commission voted 5-0 to adopt the new budget for fiscal year 2022.
That budget is for approximately $104.3 million. Which is, as explained last week, a significant reduction form the 2021 budget.
In presenting his figures, Auditor Ben Kyte said that the new property tax levies would only be 3.249%, which would be the lowest on record since 2012.
The new budget does not call for any additional opt-out dollars being used, but it does take into consideration a 15% increase for health insurance, four additional full-time employees, software upgrades, and other items.
Easier to use
County administrative assistant Carol Muller was excited to talk about one of the upgrades from CivicClerk Software.
Currently, at every meeting, a notebook containing paper copies of the bills to be paid, any department reports, and a variety of other items the commission is considering is available for those physically present.
One of the functions of the new software will be to make all of those items available to people watching the meeting while streaming live in their homes or other remote locations.
The software will also help the commission recorder in completing accurate minutes without the need to completely retype multiple repetitive tasks, such as who made and seconded which motions.
Muller reported the costs for this would be $10,000 for the first year and then another $8,000 in the second year.
She also mentioned that earlier this year, “next door” in Lincoln County, they started using the same software and liked what it could do.
Not many sales
While it was reported earlier that 11 properties were at one time going to be on the auction block for failure to pay back taxes, that number had gone down to eight prior to when Sept. 25 was set as the sale date.
And that number again dropped before last Saturday’s sale, as another six parties paid off their back taxes and interest prior to their properties being sold.
So only two properties were put up for auction on Saturday, with sales garnering around $200,000 according to Kyte.
He said a full accounting of the sales will be made at the Oct. 5 meeting.
That will be the next time the commission meets at 9 a.m. on the second floor of the county administration building at 6th and Minnesota in Sioux Falls.
The public will be able to present comments on any item not on the agenda, as well as for any pre-established public hearings.
