Hill City Prevailer

Council wants to get city project priorities straight

Published by admin on Thu, 02/27/2020 - 10:23am

At Monday’s Hill City Common Council meeting, the council discussed project priorities moving forward.

Priorities were discussed in the past; however, the council had not looked at its priority list for several months.

Of chief concern for both the council and the public was water and sewer. There is a water infiltration that is costing the city tens of thousands of dollars a year, it was reported.

Attainable housing plot, PUD approved

Published by admin on Thu, 02/27/2020 - 10:22am

The attainable housing development in Hill City took another step forward recently as the Hill City Planning and Zoning Commission and the Hill City Common Council both approved plat designs and planned use development (PUD) applications at both of their latest meetings.

The plat for the attainable housing development (to be called Bull Run Subdivision) was to create lots one through 20 of block one, lots one through 20 of block two and a dedicated public right of way.

Keystone to split bridge project bids

Published by admin on Thu, 02/27/2020 - 10:22am

Keystone will split the Roy Street bridge project into two separate bids, according to the most recent town board meeting.

The request is due to the design change to the bridge behind the c-store from a box culvert to a double “t.”

Town engineer Alan Drews said, “We’ve got the design of the bridges done on Roy Street. We ran into a snag, The state is requesting additional scour stuff.” 

Film Festival draws film fans to Hill City

Published by admin on Thu, 02/27/2020 - 10:22am

The 11th annual Black Hills Film Festival was in Hill City last weekend.

The two-day stop in the Heart of the Hills featured five sessions and over 15 films.

The closing session, held Sunday afternoon had short films about two local artists. Director Riley Thelen, from Pierre, debuted his first film entitled, “When Life Gives You Lemmon.” The nine-minute piece focuses on the small town of Lemmon and its most famous resident, sculptor and welder John Lopez.

Transparency takes center stage at council meeting

Published by admin on Thu, 02/27/2020 - 10:22am

Transparency was a big theme at Monday night’s Hill City Common Council meeting.

The council discussed whether or not other bodies should be video recording their meetings and what to do to make the video process easier.

Elementary school adds 11 students

Published by admin on Thu, 02/20/2020 - 10:38am

The elementary school is growing, according to elementary school principal Samantha Weaver. Eleven students have entered the school in the last month. The school is working on increasing attendance overall with various initiatives.

A Homeland Security Grant, which was submitted for an intercom system to be installed throughout the elementary school building, has passed the first two steps. It is unclear how many steps are in the process.

Meter delaying project

Published by admin on Thu, 02/20/2020 - 10:37am

A faulty inflow meter installed by AE2S is still holding up the completion of the Keystone sewer treatment plant.

The Keystone Town Board had planned to sign off on the plant but has delayed its decision until AE2S remedies the situation.

2-2 tie lawsuit dismissed

Published by admin on Thu, 02/20/2020 - 10:37am

Plaintiffs Jim Peterson and John Johnson have dropped their appeal seeking a declaratory judgment in the 2-2 tie case.

The dismissal was filed in court Feb. 3.

“Appellant having served and filed a motion to dismiss the appeal…and the court having considered the motion, therefore, it is ordered that the appeal be and it is hereby dismissed,” the order for dismissal, signed by David Gilbertson, chief justice of the South Dakota Supreme Court, says.

Keystone chamber AUP in investigators’ hands

Published by admin on Thu, 02/20/2020 - 10:37am

The Keystone Chamber of Commerce agreed upon procedures (AUP) is in the hands of investigators.

Rick Brandfas, Keystone Town Board president submitted the findings of the AUP to Pennington County Sheriff’s Office deputy Chris Plawman at  the beginning of February. 

Final senior center designs near completion

Published by admin on Thu, 02/13/2020 - 10:26am

The Hill City Business Improvement District Board (BID board) took the time to answer some questions pertaining to the renovation of Hill City Senior Center its last meeting.

At a meeting Feb. 6, Brett McMacken, city administrator for Hill City, updated the board with the progress of the plans for the renovation and addition to Hill City Senior Center, informing the board that he just received an email that day from architect Donovan Broberg with ARC International.