By Dave Baumeister, County Correspondent
SIOUX FALLS – What a difference a week makes.
In the wake of the first COVID-19 cases reported in South Dakota since their meeting the week before, the Minnehaha County Commissioners expressed concerns about the coronavirus pandemic hitting the area.
As of noon on March 10, no cases had been reported in the state, but shortly after that, the numbers started coming in positive, with one death reported in Pennington County.
As of Tuesday, March 24, state numbers were up to 30 people testing positive, with five being in Minnehaha county, according the SD Department of Health website.
(On a positive note, 790 tests for the virus came back negative, but 268 were still listed as pending.)
One area that commissioners are worried about for possible infection is in the waiting line at the county treasurer’s office.
At their Tuesday, March 17 meeting, commissioners pointed out that while some business has to be done there, much of that line is comprised of people simply wanting to renew their motor vehicle license tags.
But it was emphasized that people should be doing this online, by mail or at the available kiosks, and definitely should not be getting in line for routine business.
But later in the week, this issue became moot when it was announced that “non-essential county buildings,” including offices at the Minnehaha County Administration Building, would be closed until at least the end of the month.
The press release from the county reminded people that business can still be conducted with the county in different ways.
Business that can be conducted online are motor vehicle renewal (license plate tags), property tax payments, application for owner occupied status, voter registration, and absentee voting.
Business that can be completed by mail are any transaction listed in the previous paragraph, title transfers, document recording, and vital records requests.
Also, there are kiosks for obtaining new license tags located at Hy-Vee on 49th and Louise and the Get-N-Go station at 5400 Arrowhead Parkway, both in Sioux Falls.
While it does take several days to receive the tags using the mail or online methods, the kiosks can print off tags immediately.
If people are concerned about germs on the kiosks, they should use disinfectant wipes before and hand sanitizer after obtaining tags.
In any case, at their meeting, commissioners said they believed any possible danger from the kiosks would be multiplied many times by people standing in close proximity as they queued up waiting for “the next available window.”
Census 2020
Also, at the commission meeting, Jeff Schmitt, Planning Projects Coordinator with the City of Sioux Falls, talked about the importance of completing the 2020 U.S. Census.
A census, which is constitutionally mandated to be taken once every 10 years, is being mainly done online this year.
Schmitt explained that the “roll-out” for the census – that is, the letters received via mail at every address – was sent last week.
This decade, instead of “long” and “short” forms being sent in the mail, each addressee received a unique code to use at my2020census.gov.
The purpose of the national census, Schmitt said, is to determine “where people are geographically located.”
He stressed the importance of everyone completing the census, in that $1,596 of federal money is allocated for every person living in a state, and that number is determined by numbers reported in the census.
For every person not counted, the state – and county – loses that same amount.
Schmitt also reminded people that when completing the census, it needs to include the total number of people living at any one address.
Commissioner Cindy Heiberger asked about “snowbirds,” and Schmitt said that people need to give their address as where they spend a majority of the year, or where they are living on April 1, 2020.
Commissioner Jeff Barth said he hopes everyone takes the census seriously, and he mentioned that there are no longer any citizenship questions, which may have kept some people from completing the form.
“Yes, there are no security issues with the census,” Schmitt said, as he again made the point that the census is just to get a count of people residing in the United States.
“Some people say they ‘don’t want the government tracking me’,” he continued, “but the way to avoid that is to get the 2020 Census filled out!”
He explained that for every property that does not have a census completed, there will be follow-up letters and census takers actually stopping at that address.
“The best way NOT to have that continue is to complete the census quickly,” Schmitt said.
He also told the commission that many seasonal jobs are available for census takers at www.census.gov/jobs.
Regular business
Getting back to more “normal” business, commissioners voted unanimously to approve a Planning and Zoning decision from earlier this month that would allow for a rollercoaster to be erected at Wild Water West amusement park, south of Hartford.
The original decision had been appealed by Josh Nelson, the owner of a wedding barn/event center next to Wild Water West.
In August 2015, the commissioners went against a Planning and Zoning recommendation and voted to re-zone that land to accommodate Nelson’s plans.
While Nelson said he was not against the new rollercoaster, he was hoping to have some specific protections put into the permit.
Primarily, he was worried about noise affecting his business.
He asked that commissioners write in a maximum noise level of 60 decibels (dB) at the edge of the Wild Water West property, that the park put up natural sound screening (trees), and that during the construction phase, work would be disallowed after 3 p.m. Fridays, which Nelson said was a prime time for wedding ceremonies.
Francis Phillips, the general manager at the park said that, as to the noise, tests were done in California on the same type of rollercoaster they planned for Wild Water West, and sound levels closer to the coaster measured between 75 and 91 dB.
Using analytics of how sound levels drop, Phillips said, they estimated the noise level at their property’s edge, 800 feet away, would be 45 dB. And while he had no exact measurements to go by, he estimated that decibel level would drop much more between the property line and the location of the event center.
According to various Internet sites, 60 dB is considered a “normal conversational” sound level, and 75 dB is roughly the sound of a toilet flushing.
But before voting, Barth suggested that Phillips and Nelson exchange contact information, so they could resolve issues they might have in the future.
The Minnehaha Commission has its regular meetings each Tuesday at 9 a.m. on the second floor of the county administration building at 6th and Minnesota in Sioux Falls.
These meetings are open to all, and public comment is usually encouraged, although there may be some limits put in place during the present health crisis.
