The SINGLE COPY $1.25 tax included ller ress USPS 349-720 Vol. 139 No.M 6 www.themillerpress.com [email protected] PMiller, Hand County, SD 57362 Saturday, Oct.10, 2020 Hand County hog facility gets state well permit Printed with permission from Bob Mercer and KeloLand Media Group PIERRE, S.D. (KELO) — A pro- posed hog facility in Hand Coun- ty has received approval to use 77 acre-feet of groundwater annually. The stateWater Management Boardmade thedecisionafter a contested-case hearing Wednesday. Landowner Kirk Aughenbaugh said the fi ve-building operation is proposed about 10 miles southeast of Miller in Pearl Township and would have 18 employees managed as part of thePipestonesystem. A neighboring producer, Patricia Moriarty, lives two miles east. She challenged the application. Timothy Magstadt,anengineer for the state water-rights program, said the nearest permitted water rightwas nine miles away and for a commercial use, while the nearest domestic well was 1.5 miles north- west. John T. Page | The Miller Press | Oct. 10, 2020 Magstadt said Ratio’s proposed THE THIRD GRADE class of Miller Elementary cruised through the Homecoming parade on their colorful TETRIS fl oat. well was unlikely to affect the Mo- riarty wellthat goes down 300 feet. Moriartysaid she has a second well at 1,600 feet, but Magstadt said it was unlikely to be affected. Commissioners move forward on wheel tax “We do have trouble watering the John T. Page Highway Superintendent Jeff Hargens con- “The tax will be applied to all vehicles cur- livestock we do have with those The Hand County Commission held their reg- tinues to price gravel due to the depletions of rently registering annually according to how two wells,” Moriarty said. ular meeting on Oct. 6, 2020. All members at- the county’s supply. Hargens received a bid for many wheels they have. If a vehicle does not li- Magstadt said he didn’t think a tended. $2.75 per ton but felt the price was too high. cense annually such as a semi-trailer which meter was required as a condition Hand County 4-H Advisor Ann Price report- Commissioner Luke Wernsmann asked what has a permanent ID plate, the wheel tax will for the Ratio permit. ed on the various events held over the recent they could do to help negotiations and Hargens only be applied when the trailer is transferred Nick Fitzgerald, who is Pipe- months. Price explained that Hand County “did explained simply taking no action is all that he and receives a new ID plate. A semi-trailer is li- stone’s business development man- pretty good” at the state fair even though entries needs. censed permanently because the total weight of ager, said he worked on projects were limited. On Nov. 8, there will be a recogni- The Hand County Library received $6,793 the truck, trailer and load is assessed on the li- with independent farmers such as tion dinner at the school but it will look a little from South Dakota Humanities: $5,000 for com- cense fee of the truck. The most any vehicle will Aughenbaugh family. Fitzgerald different as the 4-H offi ce plans to follow social puting equipment, $1,619.99 for personal wages pay for the wheel tax is $60.00 and the greater said the proposed facility is zero- distancing guidelines. Later in the year, Price and $172.60 for computer peripherals. The mon- share of vehicles have four wheels and will pay discharge with 12 months of ma- plans to start work on recruiting new students ey will be used to upgrade the library’s equip- $20.00. nure storagein concrete unlined into the program. ment so it can better serve patrons. Based on 2019 statistical reports of vehicles li- pits andwould meet state govern- Hand County Sheriff Shane Croeni requested Custodian Will Page emailed a report that censed in Hand County, the estimated revenue ment’s design standards. approval to hire Joshua Zweber as a part time Midwest Construction and Pierce and Harris En- generated from the wheel tax would be approxi- Moriarty asked how the oper- deputy. Zweber will work no more than nine- gineering are both interested in being the gener- mately $187,000.00.” ators would know when manure teen hours a week, but could potentially be al contractor for replacing the courthouse eleva- The money generated for the tax would only leaked. Fitzgerald repeatedly an- hired as a full time employee should a position tor. Wernsmann felt they were putting “the cart be usable for road and bridge repairs. Having swered only that the facility is de- open. before the horse” since the project will cost ap- a wheel tax also allows the county to apply for signed to meet or exceed all state County Auditor Doug DeBoer applied for a proximately half a million dollars. various grants to improve the county’s infra- requirements. grant from Center for Tech and Civic Life for The last thing discussed by the commission structure. “If you look at other cement election materials. DeBoer received $5,000 and was the implementation of a wheel tax. County The next regular commission meeting will be places, they crack,” Moriarty said. requested the Commission grant him authority Treasurer Sheri Koeck presenting the following held Nov. 5, 2020. Fitzgerald said it “was up to us to to spend the money, which they did. information: complete those tasks.” He said the fi rst Pipestone farm was construct- ed in 1989. “Are they all still in op- Legislator explains the Special Session eration?” Moriarty asked. “They Miller City Council are,” Fitzgerald replied. James D. Wangsness District 23 Board member Leo Holzbauer of Monday October 5, 2020, I attended the special session of the South Delmont asked if there were mon- Dakota Legislature remotely from my home. Over the past several weeks, discusses code enforcement itoring wells planned. There are, joint committees of the legislature have been hearing from the pub- of land. One is lagoon farmland and Fitzgerald said. lic in regard to Covid-19 relief funds received by the state of South Da- John T. Page the other is airport hay land. Only Moriarty, testifying for her- kota through the CARES Act. While many people received aid through The City Council of Miller held one bid arrived for the lagoon land self, said another neighbor has an CARES, some of our citizens have slipped through the cracks. Those peo- their regular meeting on Oct. 5, at $70.67 an acre totaling $3,750. artesian well that “after four or ple are the ones the legislature is trying to target with these funds. As a 2020. All members attended. The airport land received two bids fi ve hours” pumps mud. She said body, we passed HB1001 giving the Governor authority to spend these fed- Dave Blachford, treasurer of the with the winning one coming in at there’s no guarantee the manure eral funds per statute. We also passed Senate Concurrent Resolution 601 Miller Volunteer Fire Department, $55 per acre totaling $11,660. Both pits won’t leak and she’s concerned (SCR601) which is a set of requests and guidelines from the legislature to sent a letter to the city about the bids are good for a fi ve-year term of the manure will reach her wells or the Governor’s offi ce. The Governor’s offi ce will take these suggestions yearly Firepup program. The pro- use of the land by the winning en- the other neighbor’s well. under consideration while applying aid funds in accordance with the US gram is designed to teach young tity. Moriarty said her husband, Bob, Treasury guidelines. Currently, federal guidelines require all CARES funds children about fi re safety and each Code enforcement sparked a knew of three abandoned wells at to be spent by December 30, 2020. The Joint Committee on Appropria- year the Fire Department seeks long discussion between the coun- the proposed site. “That was my tions (JCA) took the recommendations from the joint committees and de- funds for the project from local en- cil and several members of the pub- concern, that manure would siphon veloped a plan to get these dollars out to our citizens. This was a monu- tities. Chief Finance Offi cer Sheila lic who attended the meeting. Sev- down through those (abandoned) mental task and the JCA deserves a great deal of credit for making SCR601 Coss informed the council that the eral code violators did not clean wells,” she said. come together. city has contributed to the program up their property by the appointed Chairman Jim Hutmacher of Oa- We recognize that this is not perfect and some adjustments may need before and that they budgeted $150 time and over a week passed with coma, a licensed well driller, said to be made. As a body, we are working to help the citizens of South Dako- to give to the program. The coun- no action taken by the city. Alder- that the abandoned wells, if proper- ta. cil voted to donate the budgeted man Tony Rangel presented the re- ly sealed, shouldn’t allow leakage. Since Monday, state offi ces are working on applications and depart- funds, which will provide fi re safety education for fi fty children. ments that will be handling the distribution of aid funds. Details will be City Council, 3 Inside: released as the process is defi ned. The city took bids for two pieces Top Stories 2 Public Notices 7-9, 12 Classifi eds 10-11 Sports 2, 14 Inserts: Kessler’s Hometown Grocer Weather Date High Low Precip.