By Aberdeen Insider - June 26, 2025 in BROWN COUNTY COMMISSION
JUNE 17, 2025 – GENERAL MEETING
Meeting called to order by Chairman Sutton at 8:45 A.M. in the Commission Chambers, Courthouse Annex, Brown County, SD. Present were Commissioners Dennert, Dinger, Gage, Sutton and Wiese. Commissioner Dennert 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.
OPPORTUNITY FOR PUBLIC COMMENT: None
NESDCAP/GROW SD 2026 BUDGET REQUEST & PROGRAM UPDATE: Kelly Weaver and Rachel Cramond shared with the Commission a list of services that they provide, which include Business Loans/Coaching; Digital Literacy; Emergency Assistance; Financial Coaching & Homebuyer Education; Home Mortgage Loans; Weatherization and Furnace Repair/Replacement. Kelly gave a recap of the number of recipients for 2024 through the programs. Their budget request for 2026 is $5,000.00. No action taken.
ABERDEEN DEVELOPMENT CORPORATION 2026 BUDGET REQUEST: Tim Hanigan and Rich Ward with Aberdeen Development Corporation met with the Commission to discuss their 2026 budget request. Tim informed the Commission that they work under four pillars: New Business Recruitment, Business Retention & Expansion; Entrepreneurship and Public Policy & Advocacy. Most recent new businesses are Smack Pet Foods and Tropical Smoothie. They are focusing on two new business parks: Roosevelt Business Park and Rivett Business Park. Their budget request for 2026 is $25,000.00. No action taken.
AREA IV SENIOR NUTRITION 2026 BUDGET REQUEST & PROGRAM UPDATE: Marla Kiesz with Area IV Senior Nutrition invited the Commissioners to join them for lunch so they can see how their program works when packing out meals in the Washington Street gym. Marla informed the Commission that they serve 5,100 meals/month in Aberdeen; 265 meals/month in Hecla and 430-450 meals/month in Groton. The suggested donation is $5.00/meal, but they receive $2.57 to $5.00 in the different communities. Marla explained the difference between Area IV Senior Nutrition and Meals on Wheels. She is continuing to look for and apply for grants along with requesting $7,000.00 for their 2026 budget. No action taken.
FAIR CONTRACT – TENTS: Moved by Commissioner Wiese, seconded by Dennert to approve and authorize Chairman Sutton to sign the Tent Rental Contract with T & K Rentals LLC for $18,800.00 for the 2025 Brown County Fair. All members present voting aye. Motion carried.
BROWN COUNTY FAIR PROMO LIST: Moved by Commissioner Wiese, seconded by Dinger to approve the Brown County Fair Promo List. (List is available at the Brown County Fair office). All members present voting aye. Motion carried.
FRAN ROMEO AGENCY & NESTE LIVE RE: BROWN COUNTY FAIR CONTRACTS: Rachel Kippley, Fair/Fairgrounds/Parks Manager, made a conference call with Fran Romeo from Fran Romeo Agency and Andrew Fortin from Neste Live. Andrew gave a little background to the relationship that Fran Romeo Agency and Neste Live have had over the years; Live Nation has recently purchased Neste Live so as a mutual decision Fran Romeo Agency would be its own business/company now, no longer under Neste Live. They are wanting to give Fran Romeo Agency the contracts for the Brown County Fair since Fran has worked as the point guard for them since September 2023. After further conversation, the Commission would discuss it and get back to them. Commission asked State’s Attorney Deputy, Ross Aldentaler his thoughts, he suggested going into Exec to discuss the contracts. Moved by Commissioner Wiese, seconded by Dennert to go into Executive Session for Contracts per SDCL 1-25-2. All members present voting aye. Motion carried.
The Chair declared the Executive Session closed with No Action taken.
AUDIT ENTRANCE CONFERENCE: Kasie Ingraham and Natalie Zirbel, SD Department of Legislative Audits (DLA) met with the Commission for Entrance Conference for the Audit being conducted for fiscal year 2024. Moved by Commissioner Wiese, seconded by Dinger to authorize Chairman Sutton to sign the understanding of services with Department of Legislative Audit. All members present voting aye. Motion carried.
ORDINANCE #299 – FIRST READING: Moved by Commissioner Dinger, seconded by Gage to approve the First Reading of Proposed Ordinance #299. Applicant Jeff Brockel/Jacob Palmer to rezone from Highway Commercial District (HC) to Commercial District (C) to bring these parcels into compliance for their current use: Description of property: Lots 1 thru 10, “Todd Rosebrock First Subdivision” in the NW1/4 of Section 9-T123N-R63W of the 5th P.M., Brown County, South Dakota (4095, 4185, 4275, 4365, 4395, 4390, 4360, 4270, 4180 & 4090 Paper Lane; Aberdeen Twp.). All members present voting aye. Motion carried.
ORDINANCE #300 – FIRST READING: Moved by Commissioner Dennert, seconded by Wiese to approve the First Reading of Proposed Ordinance #300. Applicant Darian & Kimberly Browning to rezone from Agriculture Preservation District (AG-P) to Mini-Agriculture District (M-AG) to bring this parcel into compliance for its current use: Description of property: Lot 1, “Browning First Subdivision” in the SW1/4 of Section 35-T122N-R65W of the 5th P.M., Brown County, South Dakota (14172 378th Avenue; Highland Twp.). All members present voting aye. Motion carried.
ORDINANCE #301 – FIRST READING: Moved by Commissioner Gage, seconded by Dennert to approve the First Reading of Proposed Ordinance #301. Applicant Edward Price for Braun Family to rezone from Agriculture Preservation District (AG-P) to Mini-Agriculture District (M-AG) to bring this parcel into compliance for its current use: Description of property: Lot 1, “E. Price Addition” in the NW1/4 of the NW1/4 of Section 23-T121N-R63W of the 5th P.M., Brown County, South Dakota (14510 392nd Avenue; West Rondell Twp.). All members present voting aye. Motion carried.
ORDINANCE #302 – FIRST READING: Moved by Commissioner Wiese, seconded by Dinger to approve the First Reading of Proposed Ordinance #302. Amendment to Wind Energy Systems (WES) to the Brown County Title 4 Zoning Ordinances by replacing: Chapter 4.36, Wind Energy System (WES) with the proposed changes: All Adopted by Ordinances #302, as amended in Title 4 Zoning Ordinance of Brown County South Dakota. The proposed ordinance will be made available for public inspection at the Brown County Auditor’s Office or Brown County Planning and Zoning Office during regular business hours. After some discussion on setbacks and height distance, all members present voted aye. Motion carried.
ORDINANCE #303 – FIRST READING: Moved by Commissioner Gage, seconded by Wiese to approve the First Reading of Proposed Ordinance #303. A new ordinance, Data Center being added to the Brown County Title 4 Zoning Ordinances of Brown County, Chapter 4.01 – Definitions; Chapter 4.16 – H-I District; An Addition to Title 4 Zoning Ordinances of Brown County with Chapter 4.38 – Data Centers; All Adopted by Ordinances #303, as amended in Title 4 Zoning Ordinance of Brown County South Dakota. The proposed ordinance will be made available for public inspection at the Brown County Auditor’s Office or Brown County Planning and Zoning Office during regular business hours. There were some questions and discussions on permitting, generators, setbacks and dBa noise levels. Scott Bader, Planning & Zoning Director will look into the setbacks and waivers. All members present voting aye. Motion carried.
FIREWORKS PERMIT: Moved by Commissioner Wiese, seconded by Dinger to approve and authorize Chairman Sutton to sign the Fireworks permit for Bellino Fireworks to do an Aerial Show at the Brown County Speedway on July 4, 2025. Alternate date due to inclement weather is July 11th or 12th, 2025. All members present voting aye. Motion carried.
MINUTES: Moved by Commissioner Dennert, seconded by Wiese to approve the General Meeting Minutes of June 10, 2025. All members present voting aye. Motion carried.
CLAIMS/PAYROLL: Moved by Commissioner Gage, seconded by Dinger to approve the following Claims/Payroll: Claims: Professional Fees: Aberdeen ED $72.40; Boyce Law Firm $435.00; Certified Languages International LLC $1,062.60; Christy Griffin-Serr Law Office $690.00; Dohrer Law Office, PC $2,724.00; Dr. Erick Messler, PhD $1,275.00; IMEG Corp $11,050.00; Kristi Brandt $97.75; Lenling Law Office, Prof. LLC $1,650.00; Network Center, Inc $2,754.95; Northern State University $276.00; PRIA $60.00; Rave Mobile Safety $9,340.00; Richardson, Wyly, Wise, Sauck & Hieb, LLP $375.00; Saber Shred Solutions $7,965.08; Sanford Clinic $1,527.82; Sanford Health Occupational Medicine $51.00; Sara Zahn $193.95; SD Dept of Health $400.00; Tyler Technologies $4,568.55. Publishing: Groton Daily Independent $141.95; McQuillen Creative Group, Inc $468.80; Mobridge Tribune $329.00; N.W. Blade $118.00; Production Monkeys $450.00. Rentals: Aberdeen Parks, Recreation & Forestry $27.61; Pantorium Cleaners Inc $259.20; Vestis $266.48. Repairs & Maintenance: EcoLab Pest Elimination Division $118.47; Graham Tire Inc $16,630.54; HF Jacobs & Son Const. Inc. $193.88; House of Glass $108.16; Jake’s Heating & Cooling $1,00.92; Mongomery’s Furniture Inc $1,907.81; Plains Mechanical Services, Inc. $23,789.30; Titan Machinery $864.64. Supplies: Amazon Capital Services, Inc $801.72; Avera LTC Pharmacy Aberdeen $5,842.48; Century Business Products $1,056.34; Cole Paper Inc. $667.80; Easi File $3,383.07; FedEx $24.11; Ken’s Superfair Foods $284.04; Makendra Ochsner $207.09; Menards $220.55; Mike Janes $29.49; NVC $39.14; Runnings $78.25; Russell Metz $359.50; Thomson Reuters – West Payment Center $2,010.00. Travel & Conference: Dr. Erick Messler, PhD $313.56; Joe Kretchman $14.00; John Andersen $14.00; Lenling Law Office $80.00; Neil Bittner $14.00; Sarah J. Jesz $117.60; Scott Kolb $14.00; Stephanie Morgan $320.20. Utilities: City of Aberdeen Treasurer $1,660.56; Montgomery’s Furniture Inc $635.94; Northwestern Energy $562.78; NVC $3,070.61; State of South Dakota PMB 0112 $115.95; Verizon Wireless $285.51.
Payroll: Commission $4,896.51; Elections $7,910.51; Auditor $10,443.10; Treasurer $18,044.30; SA $36,468.10; Public Defender $5,384.61; Maintenance $12,189.95; Assessor $16,581.76; Register of Deeds $10,905.91; VSO $4,741.87; GIS $2,946.49; IT $10,005.68; HR $5,419.28; Sheriff $59,039.25; Jail $76,979.59; Coroner $1,750.00; Court Security $6,531.52; JDC $34,391.49; Welfare $1,002.11; Museum $13,101.32; Parks/Fairgrounds $9,683.82; Fair Board $4,582.16; 4-H $1,687.20; Weed $5,468.23; Planning & Zoning $8,062.16; Highway $55,244.75; Dispatch $42,645.09; Emergency $5,498.56; 24/7 Sobriety $2,650.33; Landfill $20,516.10; Meal Benefits $84.00; FICA $29,118.93; Medicare $6,810.07; Discovery-HSA $2,842.98. All members present voting aye. Motion carried.
HR REPORT: Moved by Commissioner Dinger, seconded by Wiese to approve the following Human Resource Report submitted by Human Resources Director, Allison Tunheim:
- Amendment to May 20, 2025 HR Report, removed Bailey Frericks from list of hired part-time (as needed) bartenders, which was effective for June 1, 2025.
- Hiring of Riely Thomas as Brown County Jail Detention Officer, FT; starting wage $21.93/hr. – effective June 29, 2025.
- Hiring part-time (as needed) Bartender at $10.00/hr. + tips. Bartenders filling in as Leads will be at $12.00/hr. + tips – effective August 10, 2025.
- Madison Norby
- Appointing additional Deputy Coroner, Madeline Breidenbach (Schriver’s).
- Adding Coroner Volunteer Intern, Jodey Olson, to be approved volunteer list for work comp purposes.
- Job description, title, and grade for Chief Paralegal to be placed at grade 17.
- Job summary to include with the Deputy Public Defender job description for the job position
All members present voting aye. Motion carried.
CLAIM ASSIGNMENTS: Moved by Commissioner Gage, seconded by Dennert 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.
LOTTERY PERMITS: Moved by Commissioner Gage, seconded by Wiese to approve and authorize Chairman Sutton to sign the applications submitted by Boys & Girls Club for a split-pot to be held on August 11 & 12, 2025 at the Brown County Fair Rodeo/Grandstands to raise funds for programming/operational costs. All members present voting aye. Motion carried.
TRAVEL REQUESTS: Moved by Commissioner Dinger, seconded by Wiese to approve the following travel requests: Lynn Heupel, Auditor to attend SDACO Executive Board Meeting on July 29-30, 2025 in Oacoma; Lynn Heupel, Sara Swisher & Erin Kumpf, Auditor’s Office along with Allison Tunheim, HR Director to attend SDACES Training on August 20-21, 2025 in Oacoma; Rachel Kippley, Fair Manager to attend IAFE Convention on November 29 – December 4, 2025 in Denver, CO. All members present voting aye. Motion carried.
REQUEST FOR PROPOSAL FOR A PADDED CELL IN THE JAIL: Moved by Commissioner Gage, seconded by Wiese to approve the Request for Proposals and authorize advertising for a Padded Cell in the Jail. All members present voting aye. Motion carried.
LEASE AGREEMENTS: Moved by Commissioner Wiese, seconded by Dennert to approve and authorize Chairman Sutton to sign the following lease agreements: David Stoebner to lease People Mover on July 4, 2025; Aberdeen Downtown Association to lease portable stage & picnic tables for Summer Concert Series – June 26, 2025; July 10, 2025 and July 24, 2025. All members present voting aye. Motion carried.
TEMPORARY SPECIAL EVENT ALCOHOL LICENSE PERMIT HEARING FOR BOYS & GIRLS CLUB: Moved by Commissioner Wiese, seconded by Gage to authorize advertising public hearing for the following Special Alcohol License Permit: Boys & Girls Club of Aberdeen Area, Aberdeen, SD – Brown County Fair Grandstand – SW ¼ of Sec 1-T123N-R64W Brown County, SD on July 8, 2025. (Temporary Special Event Alcohol License effective August 11-17, 2025). All members present voting aye. Motion carried.
OTHER BUSINESS: None
EXECUTIVE SESSION: Move by Wiese, seconded by Dennert to go into Executive Session for Personnel and Legal per SDCL 1-25-2. All members present voting aye. Motion carried.
The Chair declared the Executive Session closed with No Action taken.
ADJOURNMENT: Moved by Commissioner Dennert, seconded by Wiese to adjourn the Brown County Commission at 10:53 a.m. All members present voting aye. Motion carried.
Lynn Heupel, Brown County Auditor
Published once on June 26, 2025, at the total approximate cost of $145.40 and may be viewed free of charge at www.sdpublicnotices.com and www.aberdeeninsider.com.