BROOKINGS – The Brookings City Council will discuss four items at its study session set for 5 p.m. Tuesday. One will be a facility assessment of the Hillcrest Aquatic Center.
The council will also discuss the city’s yard waste program, the Regional Landfill 3W Cell construction and hear a presentation on the city’s new website.
The meeting is in the community room of the City & County Government Center, 520 Third St.
Hillcrest Aquatic Center
The informational report provided by USA Aquatics will cover the 2019 facility assessment of the Hillcrest Aquatic Center. The full 21-page report is attached to the agenda, which is available on the city’s website.
There is also a probable cost estimate for facility needs, which shows five priority lists ranging in price from $128,400 to $894,000.
USA Aquatics, Inc. was hired to assess and document the facility condition, review code and regulatory requirements, and provide prioritized recommendations with probable costs for facility needs and improvements, according to a memo by Dusty Rodiek, director of Parks, Recreation & Forestry.
“This item is presented in a work session as an opportunity to educate council and the public of the pool’s conditions. The capital improvement plan will be adjusted based on the findings of the report to ensure proper investment is made in the facility. Finally, the report does identify the subsidy per patron of $5-plus and therefore a recommended minimal rate increase will be warranted for the 2020 season,” according to Rodiek’s memo.
Landfill 3W Cell
Luke Rodig, project manager for Burns and McDonnell, will present information on the Landfill 3W Cell construction project.
“The Brookings Regional Landfill does a cell construction project every 10 years. The last cell was constructed in 2010. The landfill puts money in a reserve fund each year to fund the project,” according to an attachment to the agenda.
“The landfill has $2.1 million set aside for the construction project. The estimated engineer cost is $1.8 million,” according to the attachment.
“The cell construction project will consist of excavation of soil, liner material, cover soil, leachate collection system, storm water ponds, access roads and other work indicated in the plans. The project will be bid Feb. 4, 2020,” according to a memo from Todd Langland, director of Solid Waste for the city.
“Part of the construction project will be the completion of the citizen’s campus. The campus is designed to give residents the ability to drop off compost material, tree branches, clean lumber/pallets, pick up screened compost, and dumpsters will be available for any extra garbage and recycling material,” according to Langland’s memo.
“Through the addition of the citizen’s campus, the Solid Waste Department furthers its commitment to sustainability. The Department will continue to seek out sustainability opportunities in both operations and capital projects,” according to Langland’s memo.
Yard waste program
Langland will present information on the automation of the yard waste program in 2020.
“The current program was started in 1994 based off of Rapid City. The city provides the yard waste bags to the local businesses for sale to the residents of Brookings. In 1994 we ordered 20,000 yard-waste bags, and today the Collection department currently picks up over 67,000 bags per year,” according to a memo by Langland.
“Program improvements would be cost savings to the residents, better employee safety, no more wet broken bags, and the city will maintain the carts. The first cart for the resident will be at no cost, and any additional cart will be $4 per month. This follows in line with the garbage cart costs,” the memo says.
The compost site at the community gardens will be moved to the Park shop area in April 2020 to provide a more centralized location and greater oversight.
“The centralized compost site is part of a greater effort to continually further sustainability practices in both operations and capital projects,” according to Langland’s memo.
“The recycling tons collected from the residents in 2019 was 879.58. An update will also be provided on plastic bags.”
“The cost of the new carts is $59.50 each. We will be purchasing 3,965 carts for a total of $235,931.58. This will mean a decrease in revenue for the program of an estimated $15,000 for 2020. The city does have 30,750 bags on inventory that will be sold in 2020,” according to Langland’s memo.
New city website
The city of Brookings launched a website revamp on Jan. 2. Staff will give a presentation and explain the changes to the site, added features, and goals for the website moving forward, according to an attachment.
“Since the launch of the original website, digital technology has changed substantially. Updates were needed to make out-of-date website technology current. Civic Plus, a web development company, was hired, and the website was redeveloped over six months,” according to a memo by Chelsie Bakken, public information officer.
Staff will present a summary of the updates and new features that are included in the website revamp.
Contact Jodelle Greiner at jgreiner@brookingsregister.com.
