Recent Storms Keep Drought at Bay St
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The SINGLE COPY $1.25 tax included ller rressess USPS 349-720 Vol. 139 No.M 29 www.themillerpress.com [email protected] Miller,P Hand County, SD 57362 Saturday, March 20, 2021 No election for Recent storms keep drought at bay St. Lawrence John T. Page P Janet Kittelson The winter of 2021 seems deter- continued fr The St. Lawrence trustees met in mined to leave a mark of many peo- regular session on March 10 at 6:30 ple’s memories. A nationwide cold p.m. with all trustees present. snap caused long-term blackouts in Calvin Kindle submitted his wa- Texas and soon after Hand Coun- ter report via email. He installed ty enjoyed an abundance of six- two new meters after the old ones ty-degree days. Unfortunately, the had frozen and broke, one for Helle warmth came with an unforeseen Kaufman and one for Ron Ham- stipulation: no precipitation. mill. Hammill’s basement was filled Stories came in from worried to the floor joist. Kindle provided a farmers about bottomed out creeks generator, pump and hoses to elimi- and not having enough water to nate the water. grow crops during the summer. Water loss this month was 34 As recently as March 9, the Unit- percent. ed States Drought Monitor reported Kindle stated he flushed 190,000 that Hand County was experienc- gallons of water. With the tem- ing a moderate drought, soon after peratures so cold, he is trying to things changed. A generous snow- keep the water tower from freez- fall full of moisture brought with it ing again. He explained that dump- smiles aplenty as the worries of a ing the water at the end of the line, drought began to diminish. where it does not make a mess, As of March 13, the short and keeps water moving in the tank all long term predictions from the Unit- the time and then it pumps warm- ed States Drought Monitor show er water in the tanks to fill it back that drought is no longer a threat. up again. Mon., March 15, Ron Hoftiezer Brad Manning noticed the hy- started up the city’s giant snow drant near the road by the St. Law- blower and began clearing the piles rence Lagoon was leaking out of the of snow in the middle of the roads pit. Manning vacuumed the pit out. around town. There are still sever- The meter had frozen and broke. al months to go before the grow- Kindle installed a four inch frost ing season kicks off in earnest, but pillow in the pit. “This will hope- for the moment, there is more than John T. Page | The Miller Press | Mar. 20, 2021 fully prevent it from happening enough moisture to keep drought MILLER STREET DEPARTMENT fired up the giant snow blower on March 15, 2021, to finish clearing off the snow-covered roads. The moisture again,” stated Kindle. at bay. packed precipitation alleviated some of the fear and possibility of a dry growing season. President Shirley Peck report- ed that Dan Coss informed her he found a meter shutoff in his pas- ture. Kindle will be informed and will investigate it further. City Council approves joint powers agreement Christy Danburg, Finance Officer, John T Page gel and Alderman Bob Steers both lifeguard. Day totals about seventeen hours. informed the trustees that no elec- The Miller City Council held its questioned the ordinance since it Mayor Ron Blachford briefly dis- After doing the math, Steers con- tion will be held. The only petition regular meeting March 15, 2021. All grants authority to construct a natu- cussed a letter to Dakota Energy. cluded that $250 for the day would received was from Shirley Peck. members attended. ral gas system and they understood He explained that he would not equal $15 per hour and made a mo- A grant for a sandbagging ma- President of On Hand Develop- they only needed to agree to a feasi- sign or even write a letter unless tion to set the wage for election chine will be submitted by Hand ment’s Board of Directors Laine bility study. After a brief discussion, the council voted on it. Rangel ex- workers at $250 per day. The coun- County Emergency Management on Warkenthien and Executive Director the council voted to approve the or- plained that a letter had not been cil voted to approve the motion. March 12. Upon contingency of re- of On Hand Development Kecia Be- dinance and make any changes rec- written yet and if they do write one The council approved a resolu- ceiving the grant and the St. Law- ranek attended the meeting to dis- ommended by their attorney for the it would be to inquire about what tion to adopt the Hand County Haz- rence portion of $337.19. cuss the proposed project by North- second reading. services Dakota Energy could of- ard Mitigation Plan. Adopting the Danburg also informed the trust- west Energy to bring natural gas Rangel announced that the city fer them. He further explained that plan allows the City of Miller to ap- ees of the sales tax for the first two to rural communities. The council filled both the Electric Superinten- sending a letter does not mean the ply for FEMA grants and use them months of 2021 is $183, 2.05 per- held a first reading of the ordinance dent and Lineman positions for the council is committing to anything. to build up infrastructure against cent less than the same period in that would allow them to join the City Electric Department. Chief Fi- Coss requested permission to potential disasters. 2020. non-profit board that would run nance Officer Sheila Coss also an- raise the pay for election workers to The Miller City Council holds its Don Nye and Randy Peck will be the project. Eight cities received the nounced that names and wages $225 per day. When added together next regular city meeting on Apr. 5, mowing for the city of St. Lawrence opportunity to join the board and of the two persons offered the po- the schooling and shift on Election 2021. this year. of those eight only Chamberlain sitions will not be released until S. Peck will pick up the assess- signed the Joint Powers Agreement. the next regular city meeting. The ment book. The trustees met March Beranek and Warkenthien explained council voted to hire the two per- 16 to hear any questions or con- that signing the agreement does not sons with Alderman Jim Odegaard cern citizens will have on the as- equal a commitment to constructing voting nay. sessments. the system. Signing the agreement Tiffany Hofer and Sara DeHaai Water quality report will be de- simply means Miller gets a seat at approached the council as repre- livered to all billed St. Lawrence the table and a feasibility study will sentatives of the Miller Swim Club. customers from Mid Dakota Rural be conducted. Several members of They requested to have the fees as- Water. the public asked if the study will sociated with pool use waved and The trustees discussed at length include information on how local for the city to provide a lifeguard. the possibly of an incinerator or business, like Bob’s Gas, Agtegra, Hofer stressed the clubs importance ‘burner’ to be used within the city Resel Oil that provide propane ser- in teaching commitment and work limits of St. Lawrence. As the trust- vices to the community. Those rep- ethic as well as giving kids some- ees felt this issue needed addition- resenting On Hand could not an- thing to do over the summer. Steers al investigation and discussion, the swer if such information would be commented that he finds it im- item was tabled. included in the study. Kevin Watts pressive how many kids ride their The meeting was adjourned at made the point that research shows bikes past his house at seven in 7:03 p.m. The next meeting will be cities off the interstate do not grow the morning on their way to prac- John T Page | The Miller Press | March 20, 2021 MUCH NEEDED SNOW blanketed Crystal Park over the weekend of March 13. Once the air April 14. and that Aberdeen has natural gas tice. Once discussion concluded the started to warm on Monday the trees began shedding their frozen white coats filling the but their population continues council voted to wave the pool fees park with the sound of thawed slush crashing to the ground. to dwindle. Alderman Tony Ran- for the Swim Club and provide a Inside: Top Stories 2 Obituaries 6 Peterka named to “All Public Notices 8-9 Classifieds10-11 Decade” Basketball Team Sports 13 The selection format developed 2011-2020 All-Decade by Jim Quinn for his publications in Teams recognized in the early 1980s, was continued by Mariah Press/Productions for the Inserts: South Dakota Celebration history of South Dakota Salute to Agriculture (Sioux Falls, SD) – The 2011-20 high school athletics. This tradition Boys Basketball All-Decade Teams is continued with the 2011-2020 All for Class AA, A and B, which fea- Decades Teams and this Simpson’s tures some of the most outstand- Printing publication. ing performers ever in South Dako- A panel of coaches, media peo- Weather ta, was released today by Mariah ple, and sports historians carried Date High Low Precip. Press/Productions and SDSportsH- out the selection process. The pro- Mar. 11 40 15 istory.com. cess created a very thoughtful The concept for creating Boys and thorough perspective on high File Photo | The Miller Press | March 20, 2021 Mar.