Notes from Huron City Commission meeting on July 29
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HURON – The Huron City Commission on Monday evening approved a variance request from the Karen Christian Revival Church to utilize the second floor of the building at Wisconsin Ave. and 3rd St. SW for church purposes.
Formerly known as The Inn and the Hickory House Motor Inn, the building had been undergoing a facelift of sorts over recent years under the ownership of Mary Langbehn. Langbehn spoke at the variance hearing to explain that she is looking to sell the building at this time after getting much of the demolition work done on the top floors of the building.
Commissioners expressed concern about the loss of tax revenue if the entire building were to become tax-exempt as a church facility, but city planner Barry Cranston explained that only the areas utilized for worship service would be tax exempt, with the rest of the building still being on tax rolls.
One letter from a downtown business owner noted previous churches given variances in town and loss of tax revenue as reasons she was against the variance, but the owner of Gigi’s, a business on the first floor of the building, expressed excitement and encouraged approval for the new owner of the building.
A representative from the church reported that plans are to utilize the second floor for worship services and the basement for storage, with no current use of the third and fourth floor planned, but the idea to develop uses for that space in time.
A motion was made to approve the variance for the second floor of the building only, and this passed four votes to one, with Commissioner Bryan Smith as the dissenting vote.
Three items were brought to the commission during public forum.
Commissioner Drew Weinreis discussed the most recent city cleanup effort at the former Souled Out Center building on the North side of town. He reported that this week, cleanup bins will be at the Southtown water tower on the corner of 22nd St. and Frank Ave. SE.
Commissioner Shawn Harvey explained that the 4th Street reconstruction will close the road beginning on the east side of the Third Street bridge. To access the yard waste site, solid waste site, and community gardens, residents will need to come in from Custer Ave.
A community member inquired about neglect of property, specifically overgrown grass, tall corn in front yards, and sidewalks that are in disrepair. He was encouraged to report violations to the code enforcement office.
Kim Krueger, the executive director of the Beadle County Humane Society, gave an update to the commission on the work at the Humane Society over the past year. She stated that the shelter had an intake of 755 animals last year, with 367 so far to date in 2024. At this time last year, the shelter had 353 intakes.
Krueger explained that the Humane Society currently housed 88 total animals, with many of the 21 dogs currently at the shelter due to a recent statewide intake of dogs from a reservation. She explained that the BCHS is “pretty much at capacity.”
Over the 2023 calendar year, the shelter adopted out a total of 323 animals. Krueger explained that the unfortunate part of the work of the shelter was that four dogs and 28 cats were euthanized, giving a breakout of the reasoning for each euthanization. She stated, “no one likes this, but to be fully transparent, I’m going to share it.”
She further explained that the BCHS is considered a “no-kill” shelter due to euthanizing less than ten percent of all animal intakes. In 2023, the shelter euthanized 32 of 755 intakes, a 4.2% rate.
Krueger explained that recent remodels within the shelter have allowed for updated facilities for the humans and animals making use of the space. She also encouraged licensing of pets, noting that two strays came in Monday and were returned to owner at a charge of $90 apiece due to a lack of license.
She was asked by Commissioner Smith her opinion on the new ordinance that the city approved relating to feral cats, and she was very positive. “It will clear a lot of things up for me,” Krueger said, further stating that her goal was to stay within state and city ordinance while working to ensure no property owners had unwanted animals on their property.
The commission also unanimously approved a capital asset committee request for the Huron Police Department to purchase a second cruiser during the 2024 budget year. Chief Derek Layher reported that the dealer that sold the current cruiser reported multiple orders that were not completed from other departments, which would allow the department to get a second vehicle at the cost of approximately $73,000 once fully equipped. Layher explained that with each new model year, the bid price goes up by approximately $6,000, so the HPD would not be requesting a cruiser in 2025.
Commissioners also:
