Excellence honored

The Mayor’s Award of Excellence was handed out at the July 12 Hill City Common Council Meeting. Mayor Kathy Skorzewski presented the award to  Ranae Schrier  saying, “this particular person is someone who lives, breathes, eats and sleeps Hill City.”
The Mayor’s Award of Excellence for a city staff  member contribution went to account clerk Betsy Brose.
“A lot of things happen behind the scenes and people don’t know or realize when this occurs,” Skorzewski said.
In presenting the award Skorzewski added, “Although it’s not  a part of their job they do what they can to try to help people out, even going to the extent of trying to find housing  for them.”
The mayor added an award for leadership which she gave to Brett McMacken, who she called an “unsung leader.”
The mayor recognized the Hill City Library and awarded it a certificate of excellence. Skorzewski noted its vital role during the COVID-19 pandemic.
“Our library, with the help of the friends of the library, the workers, the board and all those folks pulled together to make sure that  they still had some type of operation,” she said.
Connie Sunby, who lives on Deegan Drive,  addressed the council and complained about neighbors who have “let their property go” with the build up of weeds and lack of lawn care. She asked the town to enforce the ordinance pertaining to this and does not see why she needs to file a complaint with the town to get that to occur.
“If we have an ordinance and we have employees who should enforce that. To me it’s totally ridiculous that I should  have to come into city hall and sign a complaint against my neighbors,” she said. “Let’s do what we’re supposed to do. If we have an ordinance, let’s  get it enforced.”
The council elected  Dale Householder as its president and Jason Gillaspie as its vice president.
A pre-buy  propane contract with McGas Propane was approved. Emails were sent out to four companies. Only two responded. The $1.49 per gallon price is up significantly over last year’s price but was cents  less than the other company’s bid.
The town approved a $15,373 proposal from Site Work Specialists for road repair on Bud’s Drive. This includes demolition of asphalt, hauling of rubble, repairing subgrade as needed, base course for temporary surfacing and new curbs, gutter and asphalt. The work is expected to be completed this calendar year. The project is considered a safety issue as a large hole has developed in the road. It is unclear what caused the hole to form.
An amendment to the State of South Dakota Transportation Funding Agreement was approved. The amendment extends the agreement until 2026 and must be used for the bridge going over the Mickelson trail.
Alderman Carl Doaty brought the need for crosswalks on the east side of town and the possibility of a push button access for crosswalks to make crossings near Subway and Mangiamo safer for pedestrians.
Hill City’s new park board will begin meeting on Tuesday, July 20, and will meet once a month year-round.
The top deck of the bridge at Major Lake Drive has been poured. There is no up to date information on a completion date for this project.