By the Gazette Staff and Oran Sorenson, Palisades Township
After a long hard battle to secure funds for the Palisade Park Road, a major victory was scored in Pierre this session due to the diligent work of many parties.
After the announcement about the expansion of the Palisades State Park to the south, the Palisade Township Board came to realize that the State was no longer going to be a major player in the upkeep of the very road that was paved in the first place to improve traffic to the park. While many thought it was time to turn the road back to gravel, the township board felt it very unfair to the people and the golf course who had built along that road.
The Park Road, also known as 485th Ave, was originally paved in 1989 for only one reason: there was a terrific amount of traffic going to the State Park. Realizing it was still a township road, the township too has put money into it. Minnehaha County has oftentimes been a real lifeline, doing much to help across the years. In 2016 there were many major blowouts, and the road became quite unsafe for travel. The County and Palisade Township split that repair bill of almost $80,000.
At that point, Palisade Township was told by Game, Fish, and Parks that plans would need to soon be made for a total rebuild of the road, as they determined that the base of the road was insufficient. This was discovered by boring holes through the road surface to determine what lay underneath and why there was surface breakup.
For almost two to three years, the township waited to hear of the new rebuild, but received nothing. Then finally, in or around the year 2019 when plans were made for an extreme expansion of the Palisade Park, it was leaked out that the old entrance to our beloved park was being moved one mile south onto a gravel road in Red Rock township. To their delight, Red Rock township will forever pay zero for any cost in paving the approximate one third mile of gravel, or any upkeep what so ever! But now Palisade Township was left with a paved road in need of a major rebuild with no economic help, since the state no longer needed the road.
Feeling rather abandoned, the township began appealing to those who would listen to ask for help. No township is allocated enough funds to rebuild even one mile of paved road. The State did offer some money to patch, but once again the Minnehaha County highway engineer said, “That is simply throwing your money away. The life of the road has passed.”
The County was good enough to offer to do the engineering to help in a total rebuild, but offered no money. Now the township began shifting its attention toward Pierre. “You’re wasting your time,” many or most people said. But many who lived along the road were not deterred. Besides keeping a paved road, it was unanimous by acclamation at a large public meeting held in 2020 at the golf course to also try to convince GF&P to please consider an exit only along the old park road. This would encourage park users to continue their trips into Garretson to buy goods, dine, or financially support our town in any way. Believe it or not, there were many persons in positions of power in our town who refused to fight for this exit and the good that could come from it.
At this time, the State has promised they will consider an exit only somewhere along the existing road. Our local firefighters and ambulance too would like to see a quicker way to respond to accidents in the park rather than the long trip south and then having to travel back north through the park to act when time is short.
At a meeting called by the township at the River Ridge Golf Course, all three legislators from District 25 were asked to be in attendance. Both Representatives Tom Pischke and Jon Hansen, as well as Senator Marsha Symens, all agreed we should not only ask to keep the road paved but also request that GF&P allow an exit only from the park into Garretson to encourage trade and keep a pipeline for economic development open to the businesses in town.
According to Palisade Township Supervisor Oran Sorenson, “It has been a disappointment in the struggle to secure our goals for this road that some of the major players in positions of power in our city have not supported us fully and have not stuck up for the very town that they are supposed to represent. We should never be afraid to simply ask for what we think is fair.”
It would be Representative Tom Pischke that we owe the gratitude for drafting and sponsoring HB1166, which asked for one million dollars from the state and to declare an emergency. What the emergency would do is bring forth the dollars by July 1st. The bill was co-sponsored by Hansen and Symens.
“We knew the bill would be a long shot, but with Covid money pouring into all states why not give it a shot,” said Representative Pischke. A contingent of present and past Palisade Township officers made the trip to Pierre to speak on behalf of the bill on February 10th in front of the House Transportation Committee. The bill would face many obstacles already that first day.
First was a motion to send the bill to the 41st day. This move kills the bill because there are only 40 days in the session. That motion had only one vote. By the end of the hearing, the bill was tabled. The committee chairman said he was disappointed that GF&P was not there to testify and did express that Palisade Township had been “aggrieved” by the state in the lack of cooperation on this issue.
While tabling a bill is oftentimes the death of said bill, one week later it was removed from the table in House Transportation and passed by a vote of 9-1 and sent to appropriations, the all-important committee which determines if there is enough money in the coffers to support the needs of the bill.
A huge sigh of relief came from back home when the House Appropriations passed the bill on to the House floor with a strong 8-1 vote. Two days later the entire House passed the bill 52-15. Now the bill would have to go on to the Senate and face the same scrutiny, but we were half done.
With the help of some great supporters in the Senate, things started out quite well there. The bill went in front of Senate Appropriations, where it got a huge boost by Senator Jack Kolbeck when he moved to amend the bill to add on an extra $65,422. This was thanks to the quick thinking of Supervisor Craig Nussbaum, as the contractor was asked to submit a new bid, knowing the cost of this project might have gone up over the winter. The amended bill then received a 9-0 vote in committee before going to the Senate floor.
While the Senate seemed to be in strong support of the bill, a move was made by leadership in that house to combine the road bill with another bill asking for a gun range in Meade County. The new combined bill was then passed 35-0 and sent back to the House to approve or not approve the changes in the bill. When the House/Senate Conference Committee couldn’t agree on a compromise, the bill was officially dead with just one day left in the entire session.
“What happened the next day was truly a miracle,” said Sorenson, who is also a former State Representative. “The supporters of the bill combined it in a last-minute effort to Senate Bill 60, which called for many of the main spending bills already approved in the legislature. This bill was passed by a strong veto proof majority in both Houses in the last hour before all 105 state legislators would board their automobiles for the exhausting trip home after a marathon session.”
There was one hurdle left for the new bill to cross. All bills go before our Governor for approval or veto. Governor Kristi Noem signed the bill into law on March 10th. In the final bill, some changes and concessions were agreed upon. Instead of the State putting up the entire one million, they would agree to $600,000, Game Fish and Parks $200,000, and Palisade Township $100,000. With the extra $65,422 amended into what the State will pay, we believe that we can cover the most recent bid from the contractor at the grand total of $965,422.
The job before the Township Board now is to collect the money, release bids, and establish dates to ensure construction. A meeting of all people living along the road and other interested persons will be scheduled sometime soon to let all know the details of the project. Stay tuned.
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