City council installs Chapman, thanks Weis

The Tea City Council met May 5 and swore in council members.

New councilman Josh Chapman and councilman Aaron Otten were sworn in as council members. Councilwoman Ruby Zuraff was not present in person so will need to take the oath of office within the next 10 calendar days at City Hall.

Mayor Casey Voelker also thanked Joe Weis for his many years of service to the city as a councilman.

The council re-elected Jim Erck as council president and Terry Woessner as vice president.

They appointed Dawn Murphy as finance officer, Jessica Quigley as chief of police and Thad Konrad as utility superintendent.

They designated Meierhenry Sargeant as city attorney, HDR as city engineer, Tea Weekly as official newspaper, American Bank & Trust, Reliabank and South Dakota Public Funds Investment Trust as official depositories.

The council approved the plat of lots 23 and 24, block 1 in Artisan Addition. They also approved the Smit Shop site plan at 1105 E. Trevan Place. 

They declared a 2006 Johnston Street Sweeper as surplus.

The council approved the on-off sale malt beverage and on-off sale South Dakota farm wine license renewals for Jokers 7, 615 E. Brian St. Suite #A; Jokers 7B, 615 E. Brian St., Suite #B; The Big Dill, 46992 271 st St.; 

Olson Oil Co., d/b/a Get N Go #17; JTRE LLC, d/b/a Let it Fly A, 1500 N. Main Ave. Ste 1A; JTRE LLC d/b/a Let Fly B, 1500 N. Main Ave. Ste 1B; Casey’s General Store #3944 2100 N. Bakker Landing Ave.; Jokers 7C, 615 E. Brian St., Suite #C; Jokers 7D, 615 E. Brian St., Suite #D; Dollar General – 940 N. Heritage Pkwy; and MX LLC, Makers Exchange – 102 E. Venture Pl.

They approved the pool staff and their wages. City administrator Justin Weiland said they made large increases to wages last year so this year they had smaller increases to keep up with wages at surrounding towns’ pools. They hired Holly Knudson as pool manager at $24 per hour. They hired eight cashiers at $13.75 per hour, three head lifeguards at $17.75 per hour, seven WSI lifeguards at $16.50 per hour and 12 lifeguards at $16 per hour.

The council approved the agreement between the state of South Dakota, acting by and through the department of transportation and the city of Tea for transportation alternatives funding grant. The grant is for a recreational trail that will go along Gateway and up along Nine Mile Creek and east to Bakker Landing. The estimated total of the project is $1,809,532.32. The city’s portion of the project is 18.05 percent at $326,620.48. With this type of project, they bill at the end of the project which is projected to be in fiscal year 2027.

After some discussion, the council approved the amendment to the agreement for engineering services for Sundowner Avenue phase 1 improvement project. The amendment’s cost is $9,955.

Weiland noted that they need to figure out how to do signage for no parking in Hagedorn Industrial Park.

The council will have a special meeting June 30 and will have a joint meeting with planning and zoning on Aug. 4.