BROOKINGS – The Brookings City Council will consider finances tied to the 20th Street South interchange at its meeting scheduled for 6 p.m. Tuesday in the City & County Government Center.

20th St. S. interchange

There are two items on the agenda relating to the planned interchange at 20th Street South, which will cross Interstate 29.

The first item will be a supplemental appropriation to the 2020 budget. The ordinance will amend the 2020 budget for the following changes: Create the project account for the 20th Street South BUILD project; amend revenue line items for the 20th Street South BUILD project; and amend expenditure line items for the 20th Street South BUILD project, according to an attachment to the agenda, which is available on the city’s website. 

The city has been awarded a federal “Better Utilizing Investments to Leverage Development” (BUILD) grant which is for $18.6 million. The city will chip in $2 million, and the county will add another $2 million. Private donors will contribute $669,407 for a total of $23.3 million.

“The city will be responsible for the 20% match for the project, which will be split between the city/county and private donors. This budget is being created for the city, county and private donor share of the project,” according to an attachment to the agenda.

“This proposed budget amendment includes the figures from the project budget outlined in the grant application. The engineering design for the project includes engineer’s cost estimates at 30%, 60% and 95% intervals to aid in budgeting. There will be future budgeting amendments to update the project amounts as the costs are refined,” according to the attachment. 

A memo by Erick Rangel, Chief Financial Officer, explained in more detail.

“Following the current Governance & Ends Financial Stability Policy, the city’s $2 million share will be first funded with restricted cash reserves for economic development. The current confirmed balance for restricted reserves for economic development is $1,204,998; the remaining $795,002 will be funded with unrestricted cash reserves,” according to Rangel’s memo. 

“If the City Council determines to use unrestricted reserves to fund the full $2 million, Ordinance 20-003 can be amended to reflect this change for the second reading,” according to Rangel’s memo.

The second item is to authorize the city manager to sign documents for the 20th Street South BUILD project. 

“The Brookings City Council approved a Memorandum of Understanding between the SDDOT and the City via Resolution 20-013 on Jan. 28, for the state to administer the 20th Street South BUILD Grant Project along with the Federal Highway Administration,” according to a memo by City Engineer Jackie Lanning. 

“The project has specific deadlines required by the grant. There will be future administrative documents which will need to be authorized with a short approval time to keep the project on schedule. The BUILD grant funds must be obligated by Sept. 15, 2021, and the grant funds must be expended by Sept. 30, 2026,” according to Lanning’s memo.

The following is a schedule of activities for the city to meet the grant deadlines: 

• June 30, 2020 – Submit project preliminary gradeline plans;

• Aug. 12, 2020 – Conduct the preliminary design inspection;

• Oct. 23, 2020 – Conduct the final design inspection;

• Dec. 16, 2020 – Provide a release to right-of-way;

• Feb. 9, 2021 – Release final plans for review to the state;

• June 15, 2021 – Provide all certifications, final plans, right-of-way certifications, environmental clearances, utility certifications, and necessary state and federal project documentation;

• Sept. 15, 2021 – Anticipated bid date;

• 2022 – Anticipated construction.

“With the city manager stated as the city’s representative for the 20th Street South BUILD Project, authorizing the city manager to sign project documents in a short time frame will aid in keeping the project on schedule,” Lanning’s memo says. 

“Documents to be signed include: work order for engineering services, easements, and other project-related documents. The SDDOT will have administration authority for the project, and this resolution will authorize the city manager to sign project related documents on behalf of the city.”

Other items

The council will consider other items, including:

• Purchasing 3,965 new automated yard waste carts from Sanitation Products, Inc., in Sioux Falls for $235,931 through Sourcewell, according to an attachment.

• A request to re-zone land in the Krogman First Addition, located at 1806 Highway 14 from JJR-1B to JJB-3. The land to be rezoned is entirely surrounded by property zoned JJB-3 with the RJ’s Gas Stop immediately to the south. The applicant would like to relocate the existing residence and use the property for a use consistent with the Joint Jurisdiction B-3 District. 

• A financial report by Brookings Municipal Utilities.

At the end of the meeting, the council will go into executive session “for purposes of discussing marketing or pricing strategies by a board or commission of a business owned by the state or any of its political subdivisions, when public discussion may be harmful to the competitive position of the business, and for discussing the qualifications, competence, performance, character or fitness of any public officer or employee or prospective public officer or employee. The term, employee, does not include any independent contractor,” according to the agenda.

Contact Jodelle Greiner at jgreiner@brookingsregister.com.