By Dave Baumeister
County Correspondent
SIOUX FALLS – After several warnings, land west of Sioux Falls was declared a public nuisance when the Minnehaha county commission met this week, Tuesday, Nov. 16.
Land owned by the Donald Kuhle Trust in Wayne Township had been the subject of discussion concerning it being in violation of the county’s nuisance ordinance last July and again in September.
At those times there were plans looked at to getting an old, dilapidated farmstead and large amount of “junk” removed, but this week, the commissioner’s patience had run out, according to both Commissioners Jean Bender and Gerald Beninga.
Planning and Zoning Director Scott Anderson, who recommended the property be declared a public nuisance, said that he saw very little work had been done to remedy the problem over the past six months.
Anderson showed several photos of the property during that time, with the most recent being taken last week.
Those pictures showed the same accumulated junked items, as well as several crumbling buildings.
While the main problems on the property come from a tenant there, it was pointed out that the landowner is ultimately responsible for any problems, and it was explained that the cost of cleaning up the property would be a special assessment added to the land’s property tax bill.
A representative of the Kuhle family talked about what was being done there and showed a contact with Soukup Construction to begin demolition of the buildings on Monday, Nov. 22.
The current tenant, Terry Garner, told commissioners that he operated a scrap metal hauling business, and it seemed in the photos showed by Anderson, many of the scrap vehicles and other things he hauled out for others found their way to the land Garner was renting.
Anderson said the land is zoned A-1 Agricultural, and a commercial business, such as a scrap yard, is not permitted there.
However, after what has and has not happened on that land in past months, commissioners were not going to accept anyone’s word that work would be completed, and they voted unanimously to declare the property a public nuisance.
Chairman Dean Karsky did point out that it would take time before the Planning and Zoning Office would be able to get a business in place to do any clean-up work on the property, and Anderson added that if the owner had a company coming into clean and haul away things, then work could be done before the county incurs any costs, and the nuisance order would be abated.
Briefings
This week, the county heard presentations from three local agencies about the work done over the past year.
Minnehaha County 4-H and the Sioux Falls Development Foundations had thorough reports showing what their agencies were doing, but the most moving testimony came during a briefing from Children’s Inn in Sioux Falls.
Amy Carter spoke of how Children’s Inn was the only domestic violence shelter in the area, and that they currently had 40 beds available for people mainly in Minnehaha, Turner, Lincoln and McCook counties. However, they currently run over capacity during most of the year.
In 2020, they served 508 people from Minnehaha County, alone.
As is often the case, annual briefings can become mired in facts and figures, but for Children’s Inn, a woman talked about her specific situation, and how she credited the people at Children’s Inn as being responsible for the survival of herself and her children.
She spoke of how she thought she was once in the perfect relationship, but that all changed when she learned she was pregnant.
At that time, the father became possessive and abusive.
After the baby was born, things didn’t get any better, and she eventually had to take her child and leave.
She eventually came to Sioux Falls, still being stalked, but she learned of resources at Children’s Inn.
“From the moment we arrived, they let us know we’d be OK,” she said.
The commissioners were all grateful to hear her story, which was very emotional, at times.
They said that the annual briefings they get give them lots of numbers, but they seldom show the impact that organizations have on individuals.
Local law enforcement
Minnehaha County Deputy Sheriff Joe Bosman received unanimous approval from the commission for contracts providing law enforcement to all county municipalities, except Sioux Falls and Brandon.
The contract calls for a slight increase to $36.95 per hour for 404 hours of patrolling to Baltic, Colton, Crooks, Dell Rapids, Garretson, Hartford, Humboldt and Valley Springs.
The next commission meeting will be at 9 a.m. on Tuesday, Nov. 23, on the second floor of the Minnehaha County Administration Building at 6th and Minnesota in Sioux Falls.
Time is always allotted for public input.
