Well - yeah this newsletter is late. I like to have it sent to you the Friday after each council meeting. These past few weeks, though, family has come first.

My second son recently got hired at MOOG Industries in Salt Lake City - a really cool place for him to grow his mechanical engineering wings. So it’s been one quick trip to find apartments and then last week a full on move and set up shop. He started his new job on Monday.

BTW, in case you didn’t know, the drive diagonally across Wyoming in a 15foot UHaul takes FOREVER! haha

Happy to see some temps cooling down so we can actually enjoy the summer.

Due to the extra meetings as the council talks budget, I’ve kept this one focused on that.

tally ho!

- Tristan

Four Tracks Draft House On-Sale Alcohol CUP Approved: The Planning Commission approved a conditional use permit (CUP) for on-sale alcohol in conjunction with a new tap room at 420 St. Joseph Street. Due to safety and liability concerns surrounding an adjacent historic stairwell easement, a stipulation was added requiring the building owner and architect to bring the stairwell into compliance with building codes before a certificate of occupancy is issued.

Sanford Health Medical Office Building Overlay Approved: The Commission approved the final plan development overlay for Phase 1 of the Sanford Health campus (medical office building at Addison Ave / Highway 16). This includes height exceptions allowing a 71-foot, three-story building to accommodate specialized medical equipment and mechanical screening, with staff noting the design minimized visual impact on the western hills viewshed.

GCC Dakota Mining Rezone Recommendation: The Commission recommended approval to rezone a cement plant property parcel next to the railroad right-of-way to the Mining and Earth Resources Extraction District, while recommending a separate parcel off Hidden Valley Road remain unchanged to protect the low-density neighborhood.

Fire Department Budget Review: Fire Chief Colulerson presented the proposed 2027 Fire budget, noting a total of 22,591 calls for service in 2025. The department has applied for a federal SAFER grant to fund 15 of the 21 new personnel requested to fully staff the upcoming Station 9 and preserve a safe, 4-person engine company model. They also highlighted a 63% reduction in "super utilizer" calls due to the success of Community Health Workers (CHWs) and Mobile Medics.

Police Department Budget Review: Chief Hedrick presented the proposed Police budget, reporting that the department is nearly fully staffed and requested no new FTEs for 2027 as they work to fill 12 grant-funded positions. Key updates included progress on the North Precinct remodel, the success of the Wellness and Retention Package in dropping officer attrition from 14% to 5-6% (saving $1.1 million net annually), and clarification that License Plate Reader (LPR) cameras are strictly used as investigation tools for stolen cars and missing/endangered persons rather than general public surveillance.

Campbell Street Soccer Field Lighting Approved: The committee authorized an agreement with Musco Sports Lighting LLC in the amount of $14,900 for field lighting, piggybacking on an active project at the Dakota Fields complex to save on mobilization costs.

Police North Precinct Bids Authorized: The committee authorized staff to advertise bids for the Police Department North Precinct remodel (the former sewing center) with an estimated construction cost of $1,855,500.

The Monument Budget Review: Leadership presented the proposed $19.5 million budget (a 2% increase) for its upcoming 50th year, which is two-thirds self-funded through food, beverage, and event operations. The Monument will reinvest $3.7 million into capital improvements in 2027, including HVAC, sound, and digital boards in the Ice Arena, without requesting city general fund or vision fund dollars for capital upkeep.

Public Works Budget Review: Director Mike Ty and superintendents reviewed divisions:

Streets: Ramping up roadway preservation via mastic seals (extending pavement life by 5-8 years) and launching a Pavement Condition Index (PCI) study in August to evaluate streets, sidewalks, and curb/gutter compliance.

Water: Prep work is underway for the Lead and Copper Rule compliance (including a 10-year replacement strategy), and chemical dosing optimizations at the Mountain View Water Treatment Plant are expected to reduce monthly chemical costs from $18,000 to $5,000.

Water Reclamation: The major Water Reclamation Facility upgrade is 57% complete and storm water drainage identification is expanding.

Solid Waste: Plans are moving forward to upgrade scale software to fix highway traffic backups and launch a tire-shredding partnership with GCC within 30 to 60 days.

Public Data Center Concerns: Received formal requests from a citizen demanding a formal legal opinion on why baseline zoning is being used to bypass public oversight and conditional use permit (CUP) processes for large-scale data centers.

Human Resources Budget Review: Director Amber Cornella reviewed the $1.7 million budget (86% personnel). Key goals for 2027 include investing $68,000 in a citywide Learning Management System (LMS) to streamline safety and compliance training and completing labor contract negotiations.

IT Department Budget Review: IT faces a 32% overall budget increase driven by a transition to a $500,000 annual subscription model for Microsoft Office 365 (offset in the first year by state Secure SD grant funding). Gilbert also outlined hardware cost spikes (referred to as the "AI tax" on storage and memory) and the secure rollout of GovAI.

Mayor's Office Budget Review: Mayor Jason Salamun discussed strategic regional partnerships, securing state airport funds, addressing public safety issues such as parole monitoring, and updating council on the impending launch of the new city website within a month or two.

Parks and Recreation Budget Review: Director Jeff Beagler presented the $15.2 million budget. Major announcements include three new parks coming online in 2027 (Johnson Ranch, Nuwood, and Homestead), expanding the Park Ranger program to four rangers, and the rapid growth of the city's pickleball program (now hosting 135 teams).

City Attorney's Budget Review: Discussed upgrading the department's Westlaw legal research package with AI-assisted research tools (costing an additional $12,000) and ongoing interviews to fill two open attorney positions.

Finance Department Budget Review: Outlined treasury successes, which returned tens of millions of dollars in interest revenue to the city over the last three and a half years. The department is planning a smooth transition for the upcoming retirement of Dave Uhos in late 2027/early 2028, requesting a temporary overlap FTE to safeguard the city's high credit rating.

Community Development Budget Review: Director Vicky Fischer reported that the city's building permit numbers, inspections, and applications have quadrupled over 30 years with zero added planning FTEs. The department is launching a comprehensive rate analysis of development and permit fees (stagnant for over 40 years) to let "growth pay for growth" and eventually hire 5 desperately needed staff members.

Airport Budget Review: Director Patrick Dame highlighted a record 95,000 passengers in 2025. Phase 1 of the $70.4 million terminal expansion is nearing its fall opening, and design is 60% complete for the upcoming $110 million concourse expansion. A future parallel runway project is projected to cost $100 million.

Library Budget Review: Director Terry Davis detailed the transition to centralized city maintenance and a shared FTE with finance. Goals for 2027 include deploying book vending kiosks at Fire Station 7 and the sports complex. Davis noted the Pennington County provisional library levy was reduced to $81,000 (well below the $373,000 request), potentially requiring county resident card fees or service cuts.

Sidewalk Variance Requests Approved: The council approved three separate developer/property owner requests (Tui Design Group, Roland & Shirley Meyer, and West Golden Investments LLC) to waive standard sidewalk installation requirements along Elkville Road, Crane Drive, and Edward Street due to rural/industrial locations, steep ditches, and a lack of existing curb/gutter infrastructure.

Rezoning to General Agricultural Approved: Council approved first readings of rezoning requests submitted by Rener Associates on behalf of several entities owned by Jim Bailey (including Sweet Creek LLC and Bailey Associates Inc.). The parcels—located near Krebs Drive, Cement Plant Road, and Commerce Road—were rezoned from residential, industrial, and business park districts to General Agricultural District to preserve them as green space. A planned development designation ensures no disruptive livestock grazing will occur.

GCC Dakota Mining & Residential Rezones Approved: Approved the first reading of a rezone request to place a GCC Dakota property into the Mining and Earth Resources Extraction District (with two "No" votes from Armstrong and Evans). Also approved the second reading of a rezone for another GCC Dakota cement plant parcel to Low Density Residential District 1 to align with surrounding residential uses.

Downtown Business Improvement District (BID) Assessment Approved: Resolution 2026-032B, levying assessments for the Downtown BID 2026, was approved with one "No" vote from Berdorf and one abstention from Meyer.

Bill List Approved: Council approved bills totaling $229,327.96 for Main Street Square and Visit Rapid City, as well as the city's general bills totaling $12,851,144.76

Water Reclamation & Treatment Upgrades

Water Reclamation Facility (WRF) Upgrade ($169 Million): This massive facility upgrade is currently 57% complete. The project involves keeping old equipment (some dating back to the 1960s) operational while building new, highly advanced treatment structures to ensure strict compliance with creek discharge permits.

East Side Water Treatment Facility ($80–$100 Million Estimate): Originally projected as a $100 million endeavor in the city's rate study, public works staff are looking at ways to size the facility smaller or utilize upgrades at the existing Mountain View Water Treatment Plant to bring the necessary capital expenditure down to $30 to $50 million.

Airport Expansion Projects

Terminal Expansion ($70.4 Million): Phase 1 of this multi-phase expansion is nearing completion, with the TSA checkpoint and the eastern half of the ticket counters scheduled to open this fall.

Concourse Expansion ($110 Million): Design is 60% complete, and the city is currently evaluating construction proposals. The main concourse building is estimated at $85 million, with the remaining budget dedicated to necessary terminal apron work.

New Parallel Runway ($100 Million): Planned to replace the existing runway, the city is preparing to launch a mandatory environmental assessment for this high-priority project over the next three years.

Parks, Recreation, and Community Venues

Total Parks Major Projects ($18.5 Million): The Parks and Recreation department has a robust project portfolio underway utilizing a mix of CIP, Vision, and grant funding.

Canyon Lake Park Pond Wall Project ($3.5 Million): A major restoration project to repair and secure the pond walls at one of the city's busiest and most iconic parks.

New Indoor Sports Complex: The city is preparing for a bond issuance next year to construct a new indoor sports complex, leveraging the city's strong credit rating to secure lower interest rates with reimbursement handled via the hotel Business Improvement District (BID).

The Monument Capital Reinvestments ($3.7 Million): Marking its 50th year, the facility is undergoing significant capital upkeep entirely funded through its own cash flows. This includes a $2.1 million project in the Ice Arena to install new digital boards, dasherboards, and sound/HVAC improvements.

Public Safety and Street Infrastructure

Police North Precinct Remodel ($1,855,500): Staff have authorized advertising bids to remodel the former sewing center. The project will bring the department's training division, community outreach, and substation officers under one city-owned roof, eliminating outside rent costs.

Street Improvement Plan: Representing the largest investment in roads in Rapid City history, the city has added $3 million spread over 2027 and 2028 (on top of the standard $3 million annual street rehabilitation CIP) to fund aggressive mill-and-overlay work. Key scheduled corridor projects include Carriage Hills Drive (to be constructed in phases across 2027 and 2028) and the multi-phase rehabilitation of Skyline Drive.

Rapid Valley - 57703 Zip Code

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