City Council Approves Ground Storage Reservoir Improvement Bid

The Milbank City Council held its regular meeting on April 11 in the Milbank Community Room.
In personnel-related items, the board approved the hiring of Steve Huizenga as a part-time police officer at $18.79 per hour. They also created the city staff position of utility clerk to assist the finance officer and the administrative assistant. Approval was given to advertise the new position. 
The board accepted the resignation of Ashley Henrich from her position at Unity Health and Fitness. The board ratified the hiring of Mindy Giesen and Cindy Bogenrief as Unity building attendants at $11.94 per hour. The board also approved the transition of Allison Humburg from full-time recreation coordinator at Unity to part-time personal trainer at $17.39 per hour.

They approved the hiring of seasonal recreation staff members Casside Seez, Justus Osborne, and Kaden Krause at $11.53 per hour and Julie Landmark at $13.88.  Karson Weber at $12.18 per hour and Kellen Hoeke at $12.62 per hour were approved for employment as seasonal park staff.

Regarding expenditure-related items, the board approved changes in the contract for the seeding of the irrigated soccer field to include an additional four and a half-acre area along with the original six acres. The modified contract with J&J Earthworks of Milbank was increased to $356,338.20 with the addition of $56,560 added to the original order of $299,778.20. The completion date for the work was also amended from June 18 to June 24.

A bid of $324,415 was accepted from Municipal Tank and Utilities of Brandon, Florida, for the ground storage reservoir improvement project. The bid was the lowest one submitted to the council.

The council approved the bid for baseball maintenance supplies equipment at $35,896 from Beacon Athletics in Middleton, Wisconsin. 

The council accepted the bid for $194,768 from Aquatix by Landscape Structures in Delano, Minnesota for equipment to be used during the construction of the splash park.

The council approved a change order for the Lake Farley campground improvements. The change increased the amount to be spent by $3,200. 
The board approved the purchase of two picnic shelters at a cost of $66,686 from Sourcewell of Staples, Minnesota, the company also supplying the splash park equipment. One shelter will be placed near the beach at Lake Farley Park and one will be put near the splash pad site at Hurley Park. Lake Farley will also get a new restroom. The council approved the purchase of two restrooms at $59,564 apiece. The second restroom will be installed at Jack and Jill Park.

In other business, the board approved temporary malt beverage licenses for a series of events sponsored by the Milbank Area Chamber. The events include the Cinco de Mayo Fiesta on Saturday, May 7, the fireworks celebration on July 4, and Farley Fest on Friday and Saturday, July 29 and July 30.

The board authorized Mayor Pat Raffety to sign a memorandum of understanding between the Valley Queen Charitable Foundation, the Leo P. Flynn Foundation, and the City of Milbank. The memorandum facilitates the donations to the Heart of Milbank Fund to construct the splash park at Hurley Park.

The board approved sending a letter to Pete Buttigieg, the US Secretary of Transportation, in support of funding from a RAISE (Rebuilding American Structure with Sustainability and Equity) grant for the South Dakota Department of Transportation’s Sisseton-Milbank Railroad Modernization Project (SMRR).

The council also approved advertising for replacement boilers at Unity Health and Fitness.

The next meeting of the Milbank City Council is slated for May 9 at 7 p.m. at the Milbank Visitor Center.