Author Archives: Rita Pravecek

Golden West Telecommunications presented a check for $13,282 to Feeding South Dakota before Christmas following a company-wide fundraising effort.       

Golden West is committed to helping people in need throughout South Dakota. With the coronavirus pandemic continuing to adversely affect residents throughout the state, it became apparent the need was greater than ever in 2020. In order to help brighten the holidays and put food on the table, Golden West challenged employees to donate a portion of their November paychecks to Feeding South Dakota.   

“Supporting people in need of food during these trying times is a great example of how Golden West and its employees help the people and communities we serve,” said Golden West General Manager and CEO Denny Law. “This is in addition to our diligent work to keep our customers connected every day.”

Feeding South Dakota serves all 66 counties across the state and is dedicated to eliminating hunger here. The employee response to the fundraising effort was so positive, Golden West’s board of directors each personally donated money as well, and the company contributed matching funds for a total contribution of $13,282.       

Food scarcity impacts every community in South Dakota. Every day, 106,646 people in the state are in danger of going hungry. The issue has become even more pronounced during the coronavirus pandemic. With many people out of work or experiencing reduced hours, economic shockwaves have been felt in every corner of the state. Health and safety regulations forced Feeding South Dakota to close their food pantries in Rapid City and Sioux Falls, but the organization responded by turning to mobile food distributions to meet the increased need. 

“Since the beginning of the pandemic we’re serving about two and a half times more families than before,” said Feeding South Dakota Development Associate Shawn Burke. “We’re reaching 67 communities across the state with mobile distributions at least once per month. We have had amazing response from individuals and organizations in terms of financial donations, and as volunteers to help pack and distribute the food. The task has been daunting, but the support provided has ensured that we can continue to feed those in need in these truly difficult times.”

Contributions and volunteers will continue to be in high demand in 2021. Those in need or those interested in helping can visitfeedingsouthdakota.org and search options in their area.

By Dan Bechtold/ Editor

A county project to add culverts on 318th Ave. has been stopped and a more study will be done. At the Dec. 29 meeting of the Tripp County Commissioners a motion was approved to stop the current project to allow more time for further study. There is a concern during heavy rains of water going over the road and then flooding farm yards. Mike Pravecek explained the water comes within a foot of his home. There were eight people who live in this area at the meeting.

Scott Schweitzer of Brosz Engineering, Pierre, explained the hydrology study that was done in 2017. He explained the work order was just to look at two locations on 318th Ave. He did not look at property down stream .The goal of the project was to make the road travel safe. Persons attending the meeting asked that a study be done down stream.

In other business, the commissioners set salaries for 2021. The salary of commissioners will remain the same at $9,500 per year.

The salary of Roger Sund, highway superintendent, went from $47,528 to $50,028 per year. The salary of register of deeds Louise Flisram remains the same at $44,450 per year. The salary of treasurer Candy Biggins will start at $40,109.The salary of auditor Barb DeSersa will remain the same at $43,930.

The salary of director of equalization Janiece Weber will remain at $38,000 a year. The salary of IT specialist Melanie Levi will go from $48,110 to $48,630 per year. Salary of sheriff Shawn Pettit will go from $45,926 to $48,000 per year. The salary of ambulance directors Kathie Cole will remain at $47,2195 and Sissy Orel at $44,200 per year.

The salary of state’s attorney Zach Pahlke will start at $69,670 per year. Todd Stiehl, deputy sheriff, will go from $19.50 to $20 per hour. Dan McMurtrey, deputy sheriff, will go from $16 to $16.50 per hour. Jon Burdette, dispatcher, will remain at $13.75 per hour and his salary as emergency manager will go from $8,760 to $9,277 per year.

Marty Zeigler, custodian, will go from $31,200 to $33,500 per year.

The salaries of deputies and secretaries will increase or remain the same as follows: Heather Schroeder, $14.10 to $15.76 per hour; Marcia Haukaas remains at $11.85 per hour; Holly Lillebo from $14.35 to $15.75 per hour; Makaleigh Nilson remains at $15 per hour; Kristin Assman, from $15.10 to $15.70 per hour Debbie Steinke from $15 to$15.25 per hour Tracy Swanson from $18 to$18.25 per hour (no health insurance); LaVonne Brickman remains at $15 per hour (part-time). Bev Vaughn, ambulance billing, remains at $16 per hour; Bev Vaughn, welfare director, will start at $10,000 per year. Don Vogt, recycling manager, remains at $18,470 per year. Joan Vogt, recycling employee will remain at $11.75 per hour and Ron Long Crow, recycling employee, will remain at $10.50 per hour.

The salaries of full time employees at the library will include: Misti Burns, librarian, from $32,500 to $33,250; Edith Brooks remains at $15.25 per hour; Val Padmore remains at $11.25 per hour (part time) Milton Douglas, veteran service officer, will remain at $16 per hour. Connie Christensen, highway department secretary, will go from $17 to $18.50 per hour. The salaries of highway construction employees will remain at $21 per hour. This includes Gerald Tyburec, Milo Ptacek, Andrew Connelly, Kevin Osborne, Jay Supik, Scott Bolie and David Witt.

Part-time ambulance attendants will remain for a trip under 100 miles, $100 per trip; 450 miles $250 per trip; ambulance attendants over 450 miles, $350 per trip. EMT above B will increase from $114 per day to $126 per day, EMT-B will increase from $108 per day to $120 per day. Coroner Dr. Rick Wagner will remain at $58 per call.

In other business, a raise was approved for on call EMTs. The raise will be 50 cents an hour. Ambulance directors Kathie Cole and Sissy Orel requested the raise. They noted the important work that is being done by EMTs. Cole said she and Orel cannot do their work without the EMT volunteers. There are two EMTs on call 24/7. Approval was given to purchase an AED for the fairgrounds.

The commissioners approved the purchase of a cell phone for the extension office.

End of the year money transfers were approved. There were both cash transfers and contingency fund transfers.

Alvin Pahlke has served as state’s attorney for 12 years and his last day in this position was Dec. 31. Taking over as state’s attorney will be Zach Pahlke. Zach Pahlke was unopposed in this year’s election.

The next meeting will be held at 10 a.m. on Jan. 12.

By Dan Bechtold /Editor

Several ordinances received final approval at the Jan. 4 meeting of the Winner City Council. In total, there were 11 ordinances that received the approval of the council.

This was the council’s first meeting of the new year.

The ordinances that were approved include:

•Ord 980—Amends the administrative citations provision by adding alternate off street parking surfaces and premises identification for enforcement.

•Ord 981—Amends the code of ordinances regarding abandoned and inoperable vehicles. If a vehicle is not screened from public view it should be properly covered, a common tarp will not be acceptable.

•Ord 982—deals with nuisance weeds and grass

• Ord 983—Provides for enforcement of premises identification requirements. All addresses are required to have a number. Persons who violate this will be notified by the code enforcement officer and the person has 20 days to make the correction.

•Ord 984—Adds to the list of items that are property maintenance violations. Councilman Justin Schuyler voted no and Councilmember Val Sherman was not at the meeting. The rest of the council approved the ordinance.

•Ord 985—Amends the time for compliance of property maintenance violations. Violations will have six months to comply.

•Ord 986—Amends the ordinance for off street parking surfaces.

•Ord 987—Amends the code of ordinances to set the penalty for violations. The penalty will be $500 or up to 30 days in jail

•Ord 988—Amends certain requirements for vacant commercial structures

•Ord 989—This is a supplemental appropriation ordinance

•Ord 990—This is a supplemental budget ordinance for the halfway house fun.

Reports were presented by city administrators.

Public safety commissioner Justin Day reported there were 134 inmates in jail as of Monday. The average inmate count for December was 120 and the yearly average was 105.There are 30 participants on the 24/7 program.

The communication center had 1,900 incidents entered into the CAD (Computer Aided Dispatch) for the month of December.

The 911 calls totaled 780.Mike Brown, code enforcement officer, presented a monthly and a year end report.

For December, there were three building permits issued and 11 code violations.

In the yearly report, Brown said the planning and zoning/building department issued 68 building permits in 2020. The value of permitted work in 2020 was $1,067,610. This includes $597,910 for residential permits and $487,700 for commercial permits. Brown said during 2020 there were 508 violations of municipal codes.

The Spruce Up program had four structures taken down last year. Finance officer Chandra Weidner presented a report on the money that has been submitted which will receive CARES funding due to COVID-19. She also told the council the city sales tax is up 1.17 percent from a year ago.

Troy Kruger, public works director, presented a report on work various crews have been doing. In the consent agenda, the council approved a pubic records request policy.

Requests for public records are to be made through the finance office. The policy sets the price for copying documents and the charge if staff time to gather the documents takes more than an hour.

The Winner Advocate was designated as the official newspaper for the city of Winner. Named as official bank depositories for the city of Winner are Wells Fargo, First Fidelity and BankWest.

The active fire department roster was listed in the minutes for workmen’s comp compliance.

Approval was given to January fuel bids: No. 2 diesel, CHS, $1.85 per gallon; No. 1 diesel, CHS, $1.99 per gallon; 87 Oct (10 percent), CHS, $1.87 a gallon; regular unleaded, CHS, $2.00 a gallon; propane, CHS, $1.05 per gallon.

Approval was given to substantial completion of Phase 3 of the jail addition project.

A contract was approved for Puetz Design and Build, Mitchell, for a project in the new jail. The project will be done by the end of January.