County approves purchase agreement of 20 acres near Canton

The Lincoln County Commissioners met Tuesday, April 11 in the Lincoln County Courthouse. All members of the Commission were present at the meeting to discuss agenda items brought before them.

Treasurer, Francene Hofer joined the meeting to give a report on changes made in the office.

“I wanted to give you an update on some of the changes I have made in the Treasurer’s Office, I moved two people off the counters to be answering phones and mail, they do go back if they’re busy to help keep traffic moving in and out, I changed the schedules for breaks and lunches, so we only have two people gone at any time. Starting in May, I am going to change the phone hours to 9 a.m. to 4:30 p.m. so we can try to get caught up on the day and make sure we can get calls answered back by the end of the day,” Hofer said.

Hofer also plans to get everything on the website updated so that residents will know when the Treasurer Office hours are available.

“We will also be adding an intro to the phone, so when people call, it will tell them about that beforehand, and guide them to the website for any paperwork they need,” she said.

The Board thanked Hofer for her updates on her department.

Hofer requested Board action to authorize a request for proposals for service for a realtor to look at possible sites for a satellite office in Sioux Falls.

“We are still trying to figure out how much space we are going to need for staff, equipment and everything that comes with it, but haven’t gotten to a firm number on spacing until we know what the price would be for different locations,” she said.

Hofer reached out to the Treasurer in Minnehaha County, and the Treasurer said there may be interest in doing a joint satellite location.

Paul Paulson of Sioux Falls joined the public comment portion of the proposal.

“I guess I don’t see the reason for a satellite office, I realize there are a lot of people up there, but it’s a nice drive coming up here to Canton, and you want to help maintain Canton, but you’re talking about an office up there. You’ve talked about an office for your Highway Superintendent for two years and nothing has happened there yet, so I think you need to finish what you’ve started. We’ve got four good roads coming in from Sioux Falls, and Highway 18 will be better. I, myself, don’t see any reason for it,” Paulson said.

The Commission thanked Paulson for speaking. The proposal in front of the Commission was clarified that it was only a proposal to look with a realtor for a potential location. Motion passed.

Chief Civil Deputy State’s Attorney, William Golden requested Board action to approve and authorize the chair to execute a purchase agreement to purchase 20 acres near Canton.

“It is 20 acres south of the CHS land we purchased earlier for the courthouse, the agreed upon purchase price is $1,250,000 and will have the same terms and conditions in which we get to do the surveys out there,” Golden said.

Chad Styles joined the public comment portion of the meeting to voice his opinion on the land agreement.

“I feel it’s my duty as part of the courthouse expansion committee, I have been receiving questions, texts and concerns on this particular land at this location, for choosing for the courthouse expansion. What I’m asking of the Commission is this: I think the public and the citizens, immediately around, specifically across the street from this proposed area, deserve to know what is going on,” he said.

Styles feels the Commission needs to open the topic up and explain to the public.

“I feel that it hasn’t happened satisfactorily to the citizens of Lincoln County and to the citizens of Canton,” Styles added.

The Commission thanked Styles for his input. Motion passed.