City approves liquor license transfer

The Tea City Council met April 21 with Councilman Jim Erck leading the meeting in the absence of Mayor Casey Voelker.

The council held a public hearing for a retail on-sale liquor license transfer from Double M LLC DBA Prairie View Events Hall to Davis Family Holdings DBA Prairie View Events Hall. Finance officer Dawn Murphy said that Double M LLC had sold the business to Davis Family Holdings so that is the reason for the liquor license transfer. The council approved the transfer.

Citizen Jesse Curtis spoke to the council during public comment about the culvert that was recently fixed on the backside of his property. He was thankful for the fix due to it being a big safety concern. He was asking if the council would consider a water bill credit for him maintaining the grass on the city section. 

HDR engineer Ben Scholtz spoke with the contractor last week and they are responsible for watering until the seed takes on any property they disturbed. Erck said the city is willing to work with Curtis but said they need to work through the process with the contractor and asked Curtis to keep them informed.

The council approved the anniversary date step pay increases for Ellen Martin, assistant planner, at $30.43 per hour and Matthew Ernster, maintenance, at $28.23 per hour.

They also approved the interior remodel for J&R Mechanical at 1501 E. 1st Street and the site and building plans for Raeco Builders at 1626 E. Mindy.

 They approved the plats for lot 1, block 1, lots 1 & 2, block 2 in Trevan Addition; lots 22, 23 & 24, block 5 in Serenity Park Addition and lots 10C and 10D, block 12 in Nine Mile Lake Addition.

The council approved the pay application for the 85th Street project from D & G Concrete Construction for $291,091.29. Scholtz said they started work again on the roundabout on April 1. He noted the contractor is moving quickly, thanks to good weather. All of the concrete could be in by the end of the week or early next week. He expects the roundabout to open around the middle of May.

 The council approved the canvass of the 2025 city council election results. New councilman Josh Chapman will be sworn in at the May 5 meeting along with Aaron Otten and Ruby Zuraff.

 Community development director Albert Schmidt asked the council members to consider the building permit, plat and conditional use permit process to see if there are ways they can streamline the process.

 City administrator Justin Weiland reported that the South Dakota Supreme Court sided with the city in regard to the case of KJD LLC and the city’s special assessment of the Gateway Boulevard project.

Scholtz said they will be advertising for bids for the Heritage project that will include three bid alternates. They will likely discuss another mill and overlay project for later summer or fall after the city knows where their budget is.

The council adjourned at 6:37 p.m.