BROOKINGS — The Brookings County Commission approved purchasing the old Brookings Area Transit Authority building for $449,000 on a 5-0 vote during Tuesday morning’s meeting.

The building, constructed in the early 2000s, is on the grounds of the Brookings County Highway Department shop at 422 Western Ave. BATA used it to house, wash and clean its vehicles, and also had administrative offices there, until it moved into the old Falcon Plastics location at 1313 Western Ave.

“It’s good to know they approved it,” BATA Executive Director Travis Bortnem told the Brookings Register, adding the building hadn’t been used by his agency in almost eight months. “I’m just glad they were able to come to an agreement and be able to purchase that. It (would have) been really hard to sell the property to anybody else, so I’m glad they’re going to be able to use it.”

He said BATA will use its portion of the $449,000 — which will be a minimum of $90,000, and possibly much higher, depending on what state and federal agencies decide — as a local match for future grant opportunities, alongside the possible purchase of a bus or two. The remainder of the dollars will go to the state, which will then use them to help other transit services in South Dakota.

“We take what we can get, for sure,” Bortnem said.

He added that new buses aren’t cheap, with the typical price being $150,000 apiece. BATA wouldn’t have to pay the full price, though, if the buses meet certain criteria. In such instances, Bortnem said BATA would then be responsible for 15% of the overall cost.

As for the county, Commission Department Director Stacy Steffensen said several departments are interested in using the old BATA building:

• Highway Department

• Weed & Pest Department (office space)

• Sheriff’s Office

• County Development Department (for Emergency Management purposes)

Nothing, however, has been set in stone as of Tuesday, Steffensen noted.

Busy times

The Brookings County Outdoor Adventure Center is doing quite well, according to Director Joe Salvati, who provided a report on center activities in from January through May. They included:

• 578 people used the archery range

• 1,343 people made use of the gun range

• 9,271 people attended events

• Total attendance added up to 11,192, an increase of 9% over last year at this time

Events included a pair of RC Demo Derbies and three Midwest Maiden bouts, along with a very successful “Welcome to Summer” event on May 21 that drew 338 guests. An even more spectacular 540 guests, along with 30 vendors, took part in the rummage sale on May 31.

“We’ve been really pleased — it’s been awesome,” Salvati said. “We’re super grateful for the community to come out to our events.”

Lastly, he noted that the gun range’s berm underwent maintenance in April, and that roughly 10,000 pounds of lead was removed. Prior to April, the berm was last cleaned in May 2023.

In other business on Tuesday:

• Commissioners observed a moment of silence regarding Saturday’s killing of a state lawmaker and her husband in Minnesota.

• Heard an update from Highway Superintendent Brian Gustad, who said, among other things, that chip-sealing work was completed on county roads 12 (through Sinai), 40 and 42 (north of White). Steps over the next several weeks include final cleanup, fog sealing and striping.

Meanwhile, over on county Road 16A (aka 214th Street), Gustad said fresh gravel is being laid in preparation for a chip seal effort that he hopes will wrap up in August.

“(We’ll hopefully) get that road to where it’s at least a hard surface to where we don’t have to worry about the dust or the wash-boarding out there that we’re experiencing,” he said.

Lastly, Gustad said his department is mowing county road ditches in an effort to help motorists see deer sooner as to avoid colliding with them.

• Approved, on two roll call votes of 5-0 each and a voice vote, three items related to the nearly $2.3 million Samara Avenue (aka county Road 5) reconstruction project in Volga: a memorandum of understanding with the city of Volga, and a construction contract and notice of award with Brookings-based Bowes Construction.

The project has been years in the making, and involves funding from Volga and the county, in addition to a $450,000 Community Access Grant and $705,000 pledged by the Volga Housing Redevelopment Authority.

— Contact Mondell Keck at mkeck@brookingsregister.com.