By Aberdeen Insider - December 18, 2025 in BROWN COUNTY COMMISSION
NOTICE OF DECEMBER 9, 2025 – GENERAL MEETING MINUTES
Meeting called to order by Chairman Sutton at 8:45 A.M. in the Commission Chambers, Courthouse Annex, Brown County, SD. Present were Commissioners Dinger, Gage, Sutton and Wiese. Commissioner Dennert was absent. Commissioner Dinger led the Pledge of Allegiance.
APPROVAL OF AGENDA: Moved by Commissioner Wiese, seconded by Dinger to approve the agenda. All members present voting aye. Motion carried.
PUBLIC COMMENT: None
BROWN COUNTY BRIDGE INSPECTION REPORT: Chelsey Sheridan and Michael Gutenkauf with IMEG shared with the Commissioners their findings on the Bridge Inspections they did in Brown County. They inspected 59 Bridges in 2025 out of the 134 in Brown County. Brown County’s Average Sufficiency rating for 2054 is 83.9, which is higher than the State’s average. Average Replacement Cost is $1,935,333.00; under the BIG Program the County would be responsible for 20% of the Average Replacement Cost which comes to $387,067.00. Chelsey explained the changes that are being made to the Coding System, which represents the structure better and cost in slide is based on all structures.
PRESERVATION GRANT FOR BRIDGE 182: Dirk Rogers, Highway Superintendent, presented an application for the Bridge Improvement Grant (BIG) Funds Preservation to be used on Bridge 182. Work would include repairing bridge deck delamination, place low slump bridge deck overlay, repair abutment undermining. The County would be responsible for 20% match, would be estimated at $78,436.00 – total project is estimated at $392,182.00. Moved by Commissioner Wiese, seconded by Gage to approve applying for the BIG Preservation Grant and authorize Chairman Sutton to sign the application. All members present voting aye. Motion carried.
Chairman Sutton asked Dirk if there has been any more thought or discussion about creating a South ByPass. Dirk shared that there are differences in the goals of the County versus the State plus the cost of doing this. Dirk added that we generally don’t qualify for the grants for these types of projects. Some discussion was held on the original route that had been talked, which was coming up by Jobee Acres originally; Commissioner Gage mentioned looking at going up Brown County 19 because you have the traffic lights and better for those going to the Soybean Plant. Dirk said he would inquire to see
AMENDMENTS TO RESOLUTION #2025-50 – RICHMOND LANE & DRIVE ROAD DISTRICT: Moved by Commissioner Wiese, seconded by Dinger to amend Resolution #2025-50 – Richmond Lane & Drive Road District by adding the following parcel: Lot 1 Bellikka First Richmond Lake Subdivision. All members present voting aye. Motion carried.
FAIR CONTRACTS – CONFIDENTIAL: Moved by Commissioner Wiese, seconded by Dinger to approve and authorize Chairman Sutton to sign the Fair Contract that is Confidential until released. All members present voting aye. Motion carried.
CLOSING CONFERENCE FOR 2024 AUDIT: Kasie Ingraham with Department of Legislative Audits (DLA) met with the Commission for closing conference for audit of 2024 Fiscal Year. Moved by Commissioner Wiese, seconded by Dinger to acknowledge the closing comments for the 2024 Fiscal Year Auditor. All members present voting aye. Motion carried.
MINUTES: Moved by Commissioner Dinger, seconded by Wiese to approve the General Meeting Minutes for December 2, 2025. All members present voting aye. Motion carried.
CLAIMS/PAYROLL: Moved by Commissioner Wiese, seconded by Gage to approve the following Claims: Professional Fees: Avera St. Luke’s Hospital $479.66; CenturyLink-Lumen $151.49; Certified Languages International LLC $1,011.45; CommTech Inc $4,002.81; Day County $2,470.00; Dohrer Law Office, PC $3,252.00; Helms & Associates $4,720.00; John Noyes – Bantz, Gosch & Cremer $372.00; Kristi Brandt $302.35; Kuck Law Office $4,118.40; Lenling Law Office, Prof. LLC $1,200.00; LexisNexis Risk Data Mgt, LLC $200.00; Matthew Bender & Co., Inc $118.67; Microfilm Imaging Systems, Inc. $11,825.00; NECOG $6,000.00; Network Center, Inc $3,057.77; North Star Solutions, LLC $1,512.00; Northeastern Mental Health Center $875.00; PharmChem, Inc $1,437.75; Sanford Health Occupational Medicine $212.00; SD Dept of Transportation $8,542.77; Sewer Duck, Inc $100.00; Taliaferro Law Firm, PC $2,100.00; Taylor Bell $433.20; Thomson Reuters – West Payment Center $237.96. Publishing: Groton Daily Independent $62.77; McQuillen Creative Group, Inc $566.68. Rentals: Dakota Electronics LLC $240.00; Linde Gas & Equipment Inc $63.18. Repairs & Maintenance: Butler Machinery Company $1,135.00; Custom Installation Solutions $830.00; Diesel Machinery, Inc $11,000.00; Fulcrum Biometrics $600.00; K&S Plumbing, Inc $905.18; Midwest Pump & Tank $115.00; Olson’s Pest Technicians $455.00; Pantorium Cleaners Inc $55.00; Precision Kiosk Technologies $3,000.00; RDO Equipment Co $8,125.88; Safety Service $241.95; Transource Truck & Equipment, Inc $4,108.80. Supplies: Agtegra Cooperative $40,058.52; Amazon Capital Services, Inc $444.21; Auto Value Aberdeen $285.33; Bob Barker Company Inc $4,113.39; Butler Machinery Company $3,036.69; Central Network Retail Group LLC $1,429.26; Century Business Products $516.17; Christina M. Flack $800.00; Crawford Trucks & Equipment $519.52; Dakota Fluid Power, Inc $2,024.68; East Side Jersey Dairy Inc $963.50; Geffdog Designs $90.60; GovConnection, Inc $710.80; John Noyes – Bantz, Gosch & Cremer $12.02; Kuck Law Office $140.26; Lien Transportation Company $80,775.90; Linde Gas & Equipment Inc $861.99; Menards $293.19; Midstates Group $445.00; Midwest Pump & Tank $99.92; Mycah Trollen $50.93; Pantorium Clearners Inc $264.28; Performance Oil $204.57; PharmChem, Inc $1,151.34; Pierson Ford Lincoln, Inc $46.22; Pitney Bowes Global Financial Services LLC $1,046.10; ProLine, Inc. – Watertown $3,795.00; RDO Equipment Co $1,234.71; Runnings $726.45; Safety Service $495.95; Share Corporation $1,528.00; Sprocket Ventures, LLC $74.00; Taliaferro Law Firm, PC $52.34; Thomson Reuters – West Payment Center $237.96; Transource Truck & Equipment, Inc $1,955.20; Tri-State Water $35.00; US Foods $10,525.67; Veterans Information Service $70.00. Travel & Conference: Austin Ball $14.00; Kent Karlen $14.00; Lenling Law Office, Prof. LLC $40.00; Michael W. Varilek $79.99; Neil Bittner $14.00; Rachel Kippley $1,038.63. Utilities: CenturyLink $345.87; Economy Propane, LLC $328.02; Northwestern Energy $10,442.95; Town of Frederick $77.00; WEB Water Development Association, Inc $116.76. Other: SD Assoc of County Officials $746.00; SD Dept of Agriculture & Natural Resources $4,704.49; Etix, Inc. $665.72. All members present voting aye. Motion carried.
HR REPORT: Moved by Commissioner Dinger, seconded by Gage to approve the following Human Resource Report submitted by Allison Tunheim, Human Resources Director:
- Employment ending for Holly Chavez-Pinela as Brown County Jail Detention Officer, FT – effective December 2, 2025. Request to fill.
- Resignation of Junia Hofer as Brown County 911 Communications Officer, FT – effective December 27, 2025. Request to fill.
- Hiring of Sonja Day as Brown County Deputy Treasurer, FT; starting wage $20.87/hr. – effective December 15, 2025.
All members present voting aye. Motion carried.
AUTHORIZE ADVERTISING FOR BUDGET SUPPLEMENT HEARING: Moved by Commissioner Wiese, seconded by Gage to authorize advertising for the Budget Supplement Hearing to be held on Tuesday, December 30th. All members present voting aye. Motion carried.
LANDFILL TONNAGE REPORT: Moved by Commissioner Gage, seconded by Wiese to acknowledge the Landfill Tonnage Report for November 2025. All members present voting aye. Motion carried.
CLAIM ASSIGNMENTS: Moved by Commissioner Dinger, seconded by Wiese to approve and authorize Auditor Heupel to sign the Claim Assignments against individuals to Credit Collections Bureau for the purpose of collecting liens. All members present voting aye. Motion carried.
TRAVEL REQUESTS: Moved by Commissioner Gage, seconded by Wiese to approve the following Travel Request: Karly Winter and Tuckor Anderson, State’s Attorney Office to attend National District Attorney’s Association Prosecuting Homicides Conference on January 12-16, 2026 in New Orleans, LA. All members present voting aye. Motion carried.
OTHER BUSINESS: None
EXECUTIVE SESSION: Moved by Commissioner Wiese, seconded by Dinger to go into Executive Session per SDCL 1-25-2 for Legal and Contracts. All members present voting aye. Motion carried.
Chairman Sutton declared the Executive Session closed with No Action taken.
ADJOURNMENT: Moved by Commissioner Wiese, seconded by Dinger to adjourn the Brown County Commission at 10:43a.m. All members present voting aye. Motion carried.
Lynn Heupel, Brown County Auditor
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