We held our final commission meeting of the year on December 20th, 2017. This meeting signaled the closeout of our 2017 fiscal year with the Commission approving all final departmental expenditures and supplementing some county budgets which fell short of operating funds.
With 2018 just around the corner, we have already started discussions on the 2019 county budget. We asked all department heads to review current operations within their respective offices for potential cost savings measures and share their findings during our second meeting in January.
Our highway superintendent advised we crushed $125,000 worth of gravel for county road projects in 2017. The original 2017 gravel crushing budget was $750,000. In January we will discuss implementing some funding resolutions which could allocate specific funds for capital outlay projects. This action should allow the highway department to pursue an aggressive gravel crushing operation via our contractor.
We reviewed a variance request on a 25 acre parcel as the property owner wanted exemption from our plating requirements under Ordinance 20. This variance request had previously been denied by the County Planning Board and we affirmed their decision.
In other permitting matters; we approved a final plat in the Vickerman Subdivision with the requirement that the owner improve public access and work with the highway department on an approach permit. Too, we approved a final plat in the McEwen Subdivision which splits several tracts into smaller acreages.
We approved a final map for ambulance service response areas throughout the County. Affected ambulance services agreed to these new response zones in an effort to improve services to our local communities.
We take great pride in honoring our local veterans who have served this nation. This month we recognized Mrs. Sharon R. Jenkins of Summerset as our Veteran of the Month. Mrs. Jenkins entered the United States Navy in 1958 and was honorably discharged in 1961. We typically hold this veteran acknowledgment during the second meeting of each month at 1:00 pm.
Sheriff Ron Merwin was on hand to open bids for patrol vehicles. The award went to Scott Peterson Motors of Belle Fourche. The Sheriff’s Office will receive two new Dodge Ram trucks and one Dodge Durango to add to their patrol fleet.
Our next meeting will be January 10, 2018. Have a Merry Christmas and a great New Year!
Respectfully,
Ted Seaman, Commissioner
