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2014 Issue #4
Newsletter
South Eastern Council of Governments, Dakota BUSINESS Finance,
South Eastern Development Foundation and Sioux Falls MPO
Phone: (605) 367-5390
Fax: (605) 367-5394
Web: www.secog.org
www.dakotabusinessfinance.com or
www.siouxfallsmpo.org
Director’s Corner
INSIDE THIS ISSUE
SFACF Awards Grant for Transportation
Directory .................................................. 2
SECOG Region Receives LWCF
Awards ..................................................... 2
Brandon 2035 ........................................... 3
New CAC Members for the MPO ............ 4
Kristen Benidt Joins SECOG Staff ........... 5
Upcoming Project Deadlines .................... 5
DBF & SEDF Approved Loans ............. 5-7
SECOG Calendar ................................... 10
SECOG
EXECUTIVE BOARD
Chairman
Mike Broderick
Vice-Chair
Bruce Odson
Secretary/Treasurer
Gerald Beninga
Executive Director
Lynne Keller Forbes
Board Members:
Kenny Anderson, Jr.
Vernon Brown
Julie Burke-Bowen
Ralph Dybdahl
Michelle Erpenbach
Joan Franken
Jeff Holcomb
Craig Lloyd
Dennis Olson
Representative Herman Otten
Raymond Passick
Farron Pratt
John Prescott
Senator Tim Rave
Bryan Roth
Marvin Schempp
Jim Schmidt
Kevin Smith
Lyle Van Hove
One of the most challenging things that SECOG’s
members contend with is how to fund roads
whether it is maintaining what has already been
built or trying to keep up with the growth by building new roads. Unlike water and sewer, there is
not a dedicated enterprise fund to help pay for road
improvements. Cities often resort to using the former “2nd penny” sales tax as a funding source for
roads. However, that is often insufficient or those funds have been dedicated
to general funds expenses over the years. For counties that are unable to
generate funds through a sales tax, funding of roads becomes an even more
difficult situation. Counties are also responsible for the repair and replacement of many bridges which only compounds the problem. The final reality
is that Federal funds have continued to be reduced and earmarks are a thing
of the past.
In 2014, the legislature’s interim Highway Needs and Financing Committee
held six listening sessions throughout the state including one in Sioux
Falls. The committee’s findings show that there are $400-$500 million of
repairs needed in South Dakota. The committee’s solution included a funding proposal, Senate Bill 1, that would raise more than $100 million to pay
for transportation infrastructure. Governor Daugaard recently released his
own proposal that would increase funding by $50 million.
Both plans vary a little bit, and I am not going to lobby for supporting one
versus the other. What I am going to do is to encourage you to become engaged when these bills are heard in committee. As a city, the Municipal
League does a great job of representing you. Similarly, the South Dakota
Association of County Commissioners and County Officials also does a fine
job of representing your interests. However, nothing is more impactful to
Legislators than to have you personally sitting there in front of them relaying
the struggles you are facing with transportation funding. Testifying is not
difficult and while it does require a trip to Pierre, a substantial increase in
transportation funding will make a huge difference for this state. I have
heard you complain locally for years. Now is the time to show up in Pierre
and let your voices be heard on this very important issue.
2
SFACF Awards Grant for Transportation Directory
The Sioux Falls Area Community Foundation (SFACF) awarded SECOG a $1,200 grant to create a transportation services directory. The directory has been distributed to various human service agencies in the Sioux Falls
area to increase awareness of available transportation services. It can also be viewed online at: http://
siouxfallsmpo.org/resources/community-transportation-directory/. This project is a product of the Transportation Coordination Committee and the Sioux Falls MPO's Public Transit-Human Services Transportation Plan.
SECOG Region Receives Three LWCF Awards
The Land & Water Conservation Fund (LWCF) is a federal aid assistance program administered through the
South Dakota Department of Game Fish and Parks to help states provide outdoor recreation facilities. On a
bi-annual cycle, the program provides up to 50% reimbursement funds for acquisition and development of
outdoor recreation projects. Eligible applicants include city, county, township and tribal governments. In
December, Game, Fish & Parks announced the award of 10 projects state wide. The following three SECOG
communities received LWCF awards this cycle:

Hartford ($40,000): The City of Hartford received a LWCF grant for a new wading pool and a zero depth
splash park.

Lennox ($40,000): The City of Lennox was awarded a LWCF grant to acquire land for park expansion.

Salem ($40,000): The City of Salem received a LWCF grant for new playground equipment for its city
park. The new playground equipment is the first phase of an effort to renovate Salem’s pool park.
Each LWCF effort represents a tremendous amount of priority setting, pre-planning and advance work to
budget for match. Local leaders are encouraged to establish an ongoing process to identify outdoor recreation needs and to clarify local matching opportunities to enhance future project development opportunities.
3
Brandon 2035
A number of communities in the SECOG
region are currently in the process of updating their Comprehensive Plan. The Comprehensive Plan continues to evolve from a
document to provide the legal basis for a
community’s zoning ordinance to a necessary development tool. Each community
has a unique set of variables such as infrastructure costs, vacant land area, environmental constraints and community values.
The Comprehensive Plan provides an answer to the most critical question, “Where
are we going to develop?”
One such community that SECOG recently
assisted with a comprehensive plan update
is the City of Brandon. The City of Brandon last completed an update of its comprehensive plan in 2007. The document requests, and SECOG often recommends, a review of the comprehensive
plan at least every five years.
The City of Brandon is located in Minnehaha County. According to the Census of 2000, there were 5,693 people
and 1,909 occupied housing units. As of the 2010 Census, there were 8,785 people and 3,118 occupied housing
units. For the 2014 Fall Census Enrollment, the Brandon Valley School District (K-12) had a total of 3,618 students.
SECOG staff started the process by meeting with the Brandon Planning Commission to review the existing document. The result of this initial step was that the overall goal of the update process was to undertake a full revision. New growth, updated water and wastewater facilities plans and a desire to rethink future land uses was a
driving reason for the document revision.
In order to undertake the overall goal, the Brandon Planning Commission held numerous work sessions. The existing Comprehensive Plan met the criteria for a land use plan but the Planning Commission wanted the document
to focus on the long-term goals and policies for land use development. Brandon has always committed itself to
the necessary investments in growth infrastructure and these investments have been the primary reason for Brandon’s growth. However, when a community opens up land for development, the greatest challenge is how do you
place housing, jobs and services on that land that is acceptable to the overall community. The last thing that a
community wants to do is extend costly infrastructure to open land for development that the surrounding land
owners feel is a conflict to their existing use. The Planning Commission spent much of the discussion and work
sessions establishing a future land use map that focused on appropriate land uses and the associated written policies to guide future land use decisions.
When assisting a community with a Comprehensive Plan, you wonder if anything will change or happen over the
planning period other than the need for a new plan. However, a community like Brandon makes you realize that
development does not just happen. The City of Brandon was incorporated on July 31, 1973, and adopted its first
Comprehensive Plan on November 24, 1975. The community has literally been planning from day one. What is
even more impressive is the success and layout of Brandon today can be seen in that original Comprehensive
Plan.
If you have questions about planning documents or their implementation, please contact Toby Brown at 367-5390.
4
New CAC Members for the MPO
and is the Vice President of the Siouxland Association of the Blind. Koni also recently served on the
Sioux Falls City Council’s Transit Task Force and on
the MPO’s selection committee for the FTA 5310
grant program.
Shear Attitude
Jenneil Watkins will serve on the CAC representing
Persons with Disabilities. She is Co-Owner and Partner of Leading Edge Solutions of South Dakota and
is the Vice-President (formerly President) of the
Board of Directors for the South Dakota Coalition of
Citizens with Disabilities. Jenneil has also volunteered for several organizations including Lutheran
Social Services, Sanford Hospice, and the Sioux Falls
Disability Awareness Council. She also has personal
experience with being a person with disabilities.
The Metropolitan Planning Organization’s (MPO) Citizens Advisory Committee (CAC) is beginning 2015
with five new members. During the Fall of 2014, the
CAC’s membership subcommittee was tasked with the
difficult assignment of narrowing down several qualified
applicants to five recommendations. At the November
meeting of the MPO’s governing body, the Urbanized
Development Commission (UDC), commission members approved the appointment of Kim Cerwick, Thomas Murphy, Jr., Chris Parsley, Koni Sims, and Jenneil
Watkins to the CAC. In addition, Robert Bohm, Catherine Dekkenga, and Allen Svennes were appointed to
serve second three-year terms.
Kim Cerwick will serve on the CAC representing Business. She has been the President and CEO of the Brandon Valley Area Chamber of Commerce for almost
seven years. Although her primary representation is of
the Brandon business community, she also serves on
community service boards including the Brandon Community Foundation, Brandon Development Foundation,
and Brandon Volunteer Fire Department Auxiliary.
Thomas Murphy, Jr. will serve on the CAC representing
Private Transportation. He is the Business Operations
Manager for Parker Transfer and Storage. Prior to that,
he was a truck driver for a Less-Than-Truckload business in Sioux Falls. Overall, he has spent about 14 years
behind the wheel, recording well over a million miles.
Chris Parsley will serve on the CAC representing Community Service Boards. He is the Service Manager at
Spoke-N-Sport and the President of The Falls Area Bicyclists organization. Chris is also certified by the
League of American Bicyclists as an instructor and is an
active member of the Sioux Falls Bicycle Committee.
Koni Sims will serve on the CAC representing Community Service Boards. She is a business owner, a board
member of the South Dakota Association of the Blind,
Serving their second three year terms on the CAC,
Robert Bohm, Executive Director of DakotAbilities,
will continue representing Persons with Disabilities;
Catherine Dekkenga, Architectural Intern for Architecture, Inc., will continue representing Environment;
and Allen Svennes, Administrator for Trail Ridge
Retirement Community, will continue representing
the Retirement Community.
At the November meeting, the CAC expressed its
gratitude to the retiring committee members for their
years of service to the MPO planning process. Michael Christensen represented Community Service
Boards, Kate Heligas represented Private Transportation, Glen Klemme represented Persons with Disabilities, and Dean Nielsen represented Business.
Each of these individuals were committed to the
planning process and brought unique perspectives
and passion for citizen involvement to the CAC.
The CAC is an important component of transportation planning for the MPO which directs and oversees all transportation planning and programming
activities within the official metropolitan planning
area, including the Cities of Brandon, Crooks, Harrisburg, Hartford, Sioux Falls, and Tea, as well as portions of Lincoln and Minnehaha Counties. The CAC
is the committee established to solicit public participation into the local transportation planning process
with membership comprised of interested citizens
representing various segments of the population
within the planning area. Working with the MPO’s
Technical Advisory Committee and the Urbanized
Development Commission, members of the CAC
serve as liaisons between the general public and the
formal transportation planning process. To learn
more, or become involved with the MPO planning
process, please visit the MPO’s website at
www.siouxfallsmpo.org.
5
Kristen Benidt Joins SECOG Staff
Kristen Benidt joined
SECOG’s staff in January as a GIS Analyst/
Planner. In this position
Kristen will provide GIS
and land use planning
and support to a number
of projects across SECOG’s six counties.
Kristen graduated from
Bemidji State University
with a Bachelor of Science degree in Geography/GIS and went on to earn
a Master of Arts in Geography/Community Development from the University of North Dakota. Before coming to SECOG, she was a contract employee working in GIS and Remote Sensing for the
United States Geological Survey in North Dakota.
Kristen moved to Sioux Falls from Valley City, ND
with her husband, Nathan, and their two sons.
Upcoming Project Deadlines
Please contact Kevin Burnison at kevin@secog.org or
605-367-5390 if you are interested in applying for any
of the following programs:
February 28
April 1
April 1
April 1
April 10
April 15
April 15
April 30
April 30
SD Housing Opportunity Fund
Clean Water and Drinking Water
State Revolving Fund
Hazard Mitigation Grant Program
Community Development Block
Grant
Rec Trails Grant
AgriBusiness Access Grant
Industrial Park Access Grant
Local Infrastructure
Improvement Program Grant
Build SD
Dakota BUSINESS Finance and SEDF Approve Additional Loans
McCook Therapy
Financing Source: Dakota BUSINESS Finance
Purpose: Purchase Existing Building
Community: Salem
Participating Lender: Jeremy Grady with First
Dakota National Bank
Comfort Inn and Suites - Hill City
Financing Source: Dakota BUSINESS Finance
Purpose: Purchase Land and Construct new Hotel
Community: Hill City, SD
Participating Lender: Rick Messer with Pioneer
Bank & Trust
6
Dakota BUSINESS Finance and SEDF Approve Additional Loans
Valley Ag Supply, Inc.
Financing Source:
South Eastern Development Foundation
Purpose: Purchase Equipment
Community: Union County
Participating Lender: Erik Koenigs with CorTrust
Bank
RBS Sanitation, Inc.
Financing Source:
South Eastern Development Foundation
Purpose: Purchase Garbage Trucks and Roll-Off
Containers
Community: Hartford
Moose Rack Sports, LLC
Financing Source:
South Eastern Development Foundation
Purpose: Refinance Existing Loan and Purchase
Inventory
Community: Brandon
Participating Lender: Aaron Tribble with Great
Western Bank
Behavior Care Specialists, Inc.
Financing Source: Dakota BUSINESS Finance
Purpose: Purchase and Remodel an Existing
Building
Community: Sioux Falls
Participating Lender: Matt Smith with Dacotah
Bank
Shear Attitude
7
Dakota BUSINESS Finance and SEDF Approve Additional Loans
Global Sterilization and Fumigation, Inc.
Financing Source: Dakota BUSINESS Finance
Purpose: Purchase an Existing Building
Community: Sioux Falls
Participating Lender: Dave Kroll with First
Dakota National Bank
Midwest Tropicals, Inc.
Financing Source: Dakota BUSINESS Finance
Purpose: Purchase and Remodel an Existing
Building
Community: Sioux Falls
Participating Lender: Matt Teller with The First
National Bank in Sioux Falls
Key Media Solutions
Financing Source: Dakota BUSINESS Finance
Purpose: Purchase and Remodel an Existing
Building
Community: Sioux Falls
Participating Lender: Tim Rustand with MetaBank
Alcester Care and Rehab Center
Financing Source: Dakota BUSINESS Finance
Purpose: Purchase Existing Nursing Home
Community: Alcester
Participating Lender: Dave Kroll with First
Dakota National Bank
Shear Attitude
8
Jensen Insurance
& Real Estate
Mark
Jensen
Brad
Bak
Zach
Jensen
Brad
Antonson
Beresford, South Dakota 57004
605-763-2675 ~ 800-658-3539
9
10
SECOG STAFF
SECOG Calendar
500 N. Western Ave., Suite 100
Sioux Falls, SD 57104
SEDF Board Meeting
February 11
Phone: (605) 367-5390
DBF Board Meeting
February 11
FAX: (605) 367-5394
SECOG Office Closed
for Holiday
February 16
SEDF Board Meeting
March 18
DBF Board Meeting
March 18
CAC Meeting
March 18
TAC Meeting
March 19
UDC Meeting
March 19
BWNR Meeting
March 27
www.secog.org
Lynne Keller Forbes, Executive Director
E-Mail: lynne@secog.org
Kristen Benidt, GIS Analyst/Planner
E-Mail: gis@secog.org
Toby Brown, Planner II
E-Mail: toby@secog.org
BWNR-Board of Water & Natural Resources
Kevin Burnison, Planner II
E-Mail: kevin@secog.org
CAC-Citizens Advisory Committee
Jessica Evans, Senior Loan Officer
E-Mail: jessica@secog.org
DOT-Department of Transportation
Amber Gibson, Planner II
E-Mail: amber@secog.org
Janice Gravning, Accountant
E-Mail: janice@secog.org
Bill Hansen, Loan Officer
E-Mail: bill@secog.org
Barb Martin, Closing Officer
barb@secog.org
Daniel Park, Servicing Analyst
Email: daniel@secog.org
Trisha Viss, Loan Officer
E-Mail: trisha@secog.org
*******************************************
DBF-Dakota BUSINESS Finance
SECOG-South Eastern Council of Governments
SEDF-South Eastern Development Foundation
TAC-Technical Advisory Committee
UDC-Urbanized Development Commission