City council honors past, looks forward

Council to hear MLK Day essays; consider allowing Pioneer Park to be used for Arts Festival

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BROOKINGS – The Brookings City Council will hear the annual Martin Luther King Jr. Day presentations and will consider a request by the Brookings Summer Arts Festival Committee to give it exclusive use of Pioneer Park for the annual Arts Festival.

The meeting will begin at 6 p.m. Tuesday in the council chambers at the City & County Government Center.

The agenda, including all attachments and memos, is available on the city’s website, www.cityofbrookings-sd.gov.

MLK Day

In celebration of King’s birthday and in recognition of Black History Month, the Brookings Human Rights Commission sponsored an essay contest for middle school and high school students to help students reflect on King’s ideas and their effect on the community through their contest entry. 

This year’s theme was: “There comes a time when one must take a position that is neither safe, nor politic, nor popular, but he must take it because conscience tells him it is right.” 

However, any student was encouraged to write on any aspect of Black history should they choose, designed so students can better envelop themselves into the greater history of America. 

Mayor Keith Corbett will present the awards to the middle and high schoolers. 

Arts Festival

The Brookings Summer Arts Festival Committee annually requests exclusive use of Pioneer Park for the Brookings Summer Arts Festival. This resolution will grant the BSAF exclusive use of the park and its facilities from July 6-13, 2021. 

New name

The council will consider allowing a name change for The Mayor’s Advisory Committee for People who have Disabilities to the Brookings Disability Awareness Committee.

“The committee would like to move to a more modern, user-friendly committee name to bring forward their true mission of awareness to the citizens and businesses in the City of Brookings on changes or improvements that can be made to give easy access to public and employer spaces, help employers and employees or potential employees come together to make a more equitable and accessible Brookings for all who live here,” according to an attachment.

“The committee was established on May 1, 1991, as The Mayor’s Advisory Committee for People with Disabilities,” according to the attachment. 

“The committee strives to advocate for the rights of people in our community who have disabilities. Throughout the year, specific events are held to bring awareness and information to our citizens. The committee was created to provide a framework for community-based advocacy in the removal of mobility and attitudinal barriers faced by individuals with disabilities. The committee’s purpose directly corresponds to the city’s goal to provide a high quality of life for its citizens,” according to the attachment.

“The committee has created a three-prong partnership with the Department of Social Services and Independent Living Choices to disseminate collected durable medical equipment and create the most efficient way to direct and help the people of Brookings. The committee has also created and presented two annual awards, the A.B.L.E. (Ability, Belief Leadership and Equality to Achieve Access for All) Award and EMPOWER Award to local entities who go above and beyond accommodating and employing individuals with disabilities,” according to the attachment.

Gold Project Award

The City of Brookings received the Gold Project Award from the American Concrete Pavement Association for the 22nd Avenue Reconstruction Project between Minnesota Drive and Eastbrook Drive, according to an attachment to the agenda.

The Excellence in Concrete Paving Award will be presented by Jason Reaves, executive vice president of the South Dakota Chapter of the American Concrete Pavement Association.

The project category for the award is “Municipal Streets & Intersections” (under 30,000 square yards) from their Excellence in Concrete Paving Awards program, according to the attachment. Any concrete pavement project in the state of South Dakota qualifies for the award. 

“The city is proud of the project results and the street construction was a great benefit to the community,” according to the attachment.

Contact Jodelle Greiner at jgreiner@brookingsregister.com.