124 1st Avenue NW l P.O. Box 1207 l Watertown, South Dakota 57201-6207

March 2015

First District Association of Local Governments Page 4

FIRST DISTRICT ASSOCIATION

OF LOCAL GOVERNMENTS

124 1st Avenue NW, P.O. Box 1207

Watertown, SD 57201

Small Business

Development Center

(SBDC)

1

MY THOUGHTS…

Todd A. Kays,

Executive Director

2

Funds Awarded 2

DOT Grants Available 3

DOT Interstate GIS

Pilot Project 3

GOED Conference

April 15 3

SBDC (continued) 3

Upcoming Dates 4

Inside this issue: First District Association of Local Governments

Phone: (605) 882-5115 or

1-800-981-9092

Fax: (605) 882-5049

Web: www.1stdistrict.org

First District Governing Board Officers

Dave Forrette ····························································· Chairman

Grant County At-Large Representative

Brenda Hanten·················································· Vice Chairperson

Codington County Commissioner

Gene Hexom ······························································ Secretary

Lake County At-Large Representative

Todd A. Kays ·················································· Executive Director

This publication is financed in part through a grant from the

Economic Development Administration.

Upcoming Dates… March 26 — First District Governing Body Meeting, 3:00 p.m. tour of Brookings AquaTech (fish plant), 705 South 32nd Avenue — Business meeting to follow at the SD Education Campus, 809 North 32nd Avenue #813.

April 15—GOED Conference, Sioux Falls

April 30, July 31, Oct. 31, Jan 31—Deadlines for Local Infrastructure Improvement Program

April 30, July 31, Oct. 31, & Jan 31—Deadlines for Economic Development Partnership Program

April 1, July 1, Oct. 1, & Jan. 1—Deadlines for State Revolving Fund (SRF) Applications

April 1, July 1, Oct. 1, & Feb. 1 —Deadlines for State Water Plan (SWP) Applications

April 1 & October 1—Deadlines for CDBG Applications

Through a partnership with the Small Business Administration and SD Governor’s

Office of Economic Development and other local support, the Small Business

Development Centers provide confidential and professional management and

technical assistance to small business owners and aspiring entrepreneurs.

The South Dakota SBDC joined the national network in 1985 and has established

offices in six locations around the state: Aberdeen, Pierre, Rapid City, Sioux Falls,

Watertown and Yankton. The centers’ boundaries closely align with the planning

districts. The Watertown center (located within the First District office) serves

individuals in Brookings, Clark, Codington, Deuel, Grant, Hamlin, Kingsbury, Lake,

Miner and Moody. Belinda Engelhart, the Regional Director serving the Watertown

office, has been with the organization since 1996. Services are provided at the

Watertown office or at outreach locations in nearly every community in the ten-county

region. Chambers of Commerce and Economic Development offices provide meeting

places for client appointments. Many referrals come from lenders. Over the years,

Belinda has worked with clients in nearly every industry. Most of the work is related to

the financial analysis of the new or existing business.

In addition to the core service of one-on-one business consulting, the SBDC network

has grown to include a number of additional specialized services under its umbrella.

This collaboration of services consists of:

Manufacturing Technology Solutions: Three engineers on staff work state-wide with

manufacturers on strategic planning, lean enterprise, process improvement, plant

layout, new product development, quality control and leadership development.

The International Trade Center provides in-depth counseling in international trade

techniques, procedures and opportunities. The staff will provide assistance in

structuring and compiling necessary documentation for export financing as well as

ranking foreign market opportunities and advising on compliance with U.S and foreign

laws.

The Small Business Innovation Research program links small businesses and

university research to the federal government's research and development efforts.

Eleven federal agencies participate in SBIR. The SBIR staff provides one-on-one

counseling and helps to identify opportunities and assistance with Federal registrations.

Continued...page 3

First District Association of Local Governments Page 3 First District Association of Local Governments Page 2

My thoughts. . .

By: todd a. kays,

Executive director

As I pen this article, the South Dakota Legislature is

nearing its last regular legislative day for the 2015

session. This year there were several bills that dealt with

development and planning and zoning issues.

SB 126 established the 2015 International Building

Code (IBC) as the standard construction code for local units

of government that have adopted building codes. Local

units of government are still required to use the IBC for

commercial structures even if they have not adopted a

building code.

If a county or city’s zoning ordinance requires a

landowner to post his/her property regarding a public

hearing for a change in the zoning or for a conditional use

permit, HB 1194 requires the local unit of government to

use a sign that must be at least twenty-four inches wide and

eighteen inches tall with bold lettering to inform the public

about the petition and hearing.

HB 1201 was the most contentious bill regarding

planning and zoning this year. There was significant amount

of misinformation regarding what this bill would or would

not do. While there was much opposition to the bill it

should be noted that this bill does not do any of the

following:

HB 1201 does not reduce the super majority

requirement (2/3) of the entire board of Adjustment

(BOA) regarding appeals and/or variances.

This bill does not mandate communities and counties

that utilize the BOA for issuing conditional use permits

to reduce their voting requirement from 2/3 to a simple

majority.

The bill does not mandate any municipality or county to

develop a certification process for conditional uses.

HB 1201 did address two issues important to city and

county government. First, the bill clarified existing State

Law regarding a city or county Board of Adjustment’s

specific authority to “Hear and determine conditional uses”.

This is important, as 10 out of 11 counties and 40

communities in the First District rely on the Board of

Adjustment to handle conditional uses. Second, the bill

provides cities and counties the opportunity to establish

what they believe should be the minimum voting

requirement necessary for the issuance of a conditional use

permit. Prior to HB 1201 that requirement established in State

law was a mandatory 2/3 vote of the full board.

It should be noted that the only substantive change created

by HB 1201 that potentially impacts cities and counties is the

requirement that the vote for conditional use permits be of those

members present as opposed to full membership of the

Board. What that means is if you are a unit of government with

a 5-person BOA and a 2/3 vote requirement, 4 votes are required

to issue a conditional use permit. HB 1201 does not change the

required 2/3 vote but it would change the number of votes

required if a full board is not present for the decision. For

example if the same 5-member BOA only has 4 members

present at the hearing, then only 3 votes are now required to pass

the conditional use permit.

This may be of some concern for some counties and cities,

but it should not be a problem for those counties and cities that

have appointed alternates to the BOA. If this is done, there

should rarely be an instance when a conditional use permit is

heard before a BOA lacking its full membership. Also, there is

nothing in HB 1201 that would preclude a county or city from

developing an administrative policy requiring a full board to be

in attendance to hear a conditional use permit request.

In closing, the language of HB 1201 is primarily permissive

and does nothing to inhibit local control. It will allow counties

and cities to continue to develop conditional use permitting

processes which are specific to the land use and the county or

city’s interpretation of what is best for their specific locality. If

you have questions regarding HB 1201 or need assistance in

developing policy regarding alternates to the BOA or BOA

hearing policies/standards, please do not hesitate to contact Luke

Muller or myself.

The South Dakota Department of Transportation has developed a

grant program to foster economic development and enhance

community access in South Dakota. The program has three

categorical purposes.

The Industrial Park Grants will be made to any local unit of

government for the development of new or expanded access for

new industry located within industrial parks. Applications are due

April 15, July 15, or October 15.

The Agri-Business Grants will be made to any local unit of

government for the development of new or expanded agri-business

industries. Applications are due April 15, July 15, or October 15.

The Community Access Grants are state funds for towns less

than 5,000 population and are for the construction or

reconstruction of major streets in each town such as Main Street,

the road to the elevator, schools, hospitals, etc. Applications are

due July 15.

These programs provide for 60% of the construction costs of the

project, not including engineering or utility work. Grant size is

limited to $200,000.

Application Should Include:

Clear map showing the project location

Engineer’s estimate

Resolution of support from the local sponsor

Project Requirements

Designed in accordance with the SD DOT Standard

Specifications for Roads & Bridges

Must comply with the Americans with Disabilities

Act

Funds cannot be used for routine maintenance

Must have plans and specifications stamped by a

registered professional engineer

All grants will be based on the criteria developed by the

Department of Transportation. The expenditure authority for the

program will be determined by the Transportation Commission.

All grants must be approved by the Transportation Commission,

and may be used to construct or reconstruct roads and streets in the

community.

All aspects of these grant programs are outlined in the Fact Sheets

and Policies for Industrial Park, Agri-Business Access, and

Community Access Grant Programs and can be found at http://

www.sddot.com/business/local/economic/. For more information,

contact Paula Huizenga, Grants Program Engineer

(paula.huizenga@state.sd.us) or 605-773-6253.

The Firs t District Geographic

Information Systems (GIS) department

will be participating in a pilot project

for the Department of Transportation to

collect the necessary deeds and plats

for U.S. Interstate highway right-of-

way in Brookings and Hamlin

Counties. From those collected documents, an Interstate right -

of-way parcel layer will be created to be added to the

Department of Transportation’s existing right-of-way parcel

inventory. Along with improving access, understanding and

organization of the Interstate right-of-way real estate data (lease

vs. owned), the State will use the pilot project to estimate the

potential cost of reproducing this information on a statewide

scale.

$ Funds Awarded $

Hamlin County — $44,000 — Hazard Mitigation Grant (sirens) City of Watertown — $34,688 — Hazard Mitigation Grant (sirens) Town of Summit — $617,000 — USDA loan (sanitary sewer) GROW South Dakota — $250,000 grant — Economic Development Partnership Program

The Governor’s Office of Economic Development

(GOED) Conference is scheduled for April 15 in Sioux

Falls. The focus of the conference is on workforce development in the State of South Dakota. For complete

information, please visit sdreadytopartner.com.

GOED Conference Scheduled

Small Business Development Center...continued The Procurement Technical Assistance Center provides government contracting assistance to established businesses. The staff

identifies opportunities for clients and assists them with submissions of applications, bid and proposal preparation and post award

assistance.

The Enterprise Institute provides business development and commercialization services to researchers, inventors and start-up

companies in the region. They coordinate angel fund investment groups in the state.

For any of these services or more information, call Belinda at 605-882-5115 or e-mail at belinda.engelhart@usd.edu.

DOT Grants Available

First District to Participate in

DOT Interstate GIS Pilot Project