By Carrie Moritz, Gazette

            On Monday, May 8, the Garretson City Council met in regular meeting. Despite much of the meeting being routine, the items on the agenda covered several important areas, including updating the fireworks ordinance, the potential of a lift station that would be installed to the east of the industrial development, and an update on the ownership of the baseball field.

            Council President Greg Franka stood in for Mayor Greg Beaner, who was not in attendance at the meeting. The first action taken was for Bill Hoskins, Bruce Brown, and Tom Godbey to take the oath of office for their respective seats. Brown and Godbey had re-filed for two-year terms without any opposition in February, and Hoskins was re-appointed to his seat for a year. 

            With the 2023-24 council installed, there was a bit of good news from city billing clerk Sonya Swanson. She noted this month's price for natural gas is $0.87. While the significant price drop isn't as impactful as it would have been in February, it does raise some hope that natural gas prices are going back towards their historic averages.

            Swanson, who is also in charge of parks maintenance and is on the Parks Board, then reported that four new trees had been planted at Split Rock Park. The city planted two lilacs, a maple, and a weeping willow. A "sculpture tree" had been installed as well, thanks to community member Kris Frerk. Frerk had obtained this sculpture thanks to third-penny appropriations from the city for the Art Trail that will be starting this summer. Another sculpture will be placed at Devil's Gulch within the week.

            The council then moved on to approving a joint purchase agreement with Humboldt for a vacuum trailer, which is used to clean pipes and remove debris for pothole repair. Maintenance Supervisors Jordan Doane and Ryan Nussbaum estimate the truck will be used extensively, and will save the city money in the long term. Until now, they have been contracting those services.

Fireworks ordinance may be updated

            Building Code Officer JR Hofer, who has been working with the city to update several ordinances, was in attendance to speak on an update to the fireworks ordinance for Garretson.

            Mostly, Hofer said, an updated ordinance would outline areas that had been following South Dakota Codified Law, and presented it to the council for a first reading.

            "It's basically putting in writing what we've been letting the public do for the past ten years," he said, noting that the current city ordinance had not been officially updated since 1985.

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