County Commissioners approve Liquor License, and 2025 Provisional Budget

With all members present, the Lincoln County Commissioners met in the Lincoln County Boardroom Tuesday, September 10 to hear agenda items including liquor license applications, lien repayment, and 2025 provisional budget.

Commissioner Recorder, Alicia Cafaro, read to the commission a public hearing to consider an application for a temporary on-sale liquor license to operate outside the municipality for David Derschan, 57015 Bar LLC (Chancellor Bar) for an event to occur on September 14th, 2024, located at located at Prosper Country Warehouse & Event Hall, 46620 278th St., Lennox, SD 57039. The applicant was not present at the time of the public hearing. With no proponents or opponents, motion approved unanimously.

At the previous meeting, Commissioners were working out a plan with Evan Roelfsema to release lien amounts for Roelfsema and his wife to be able to purchase a home. Commissioner Jim Schmidt was first to speak on the matter. 

“I don’t know how we’re going to actually proceed, but I just want to give a little background. As you know, Evan and Nadene Roelfsema owed the county some $10,700 for various fees that the county had paid for them. In order to satisfy that lien, we talked a lot about forgiveness, and we went around the horse a long time. In order to more or less satisfy everybody and allow them to purchase their first house, which is a big deal in your life, we worked out the following situation. There will be a promissory note that they will sign, and they will pay $50 a month, interest free, to the county. The remaining amount of money will be placed on a second lien on the home that they are buying,” Commissioner Schmidt said. 

Motion approved.

Chief Civil Deputy State’s Attorney, Drew DeGroot joined the meeting for board action to rescind Resolution 2024-21, the resolution of necessity for the purposes of Lincoln County Justice Center access. 

“With the board’s commitment to moving down the main access point down West Avenue Northwest back on February 6,” he said. 

On February 6, 2024, the Board passed a Resolution of necessity to acquire real property necessary for opening and constructing Highway. Since that time, the Commission has vetted alternative roadway and sanitary access. The Commission has committed to making the primary access points for both services off of N. West Ave. The need to pursue condemnation of the designated H lots fronting the future Justice Center is no longer necessary. With no public input, the motion was approved unanimously.

Auditor, Sheri Lund joined the meeting for board discussion with action to approve and adopt the 2025 Provisional Budget as the annual budget of appropriations and expenditures for Lincoln County, its institutions, and agencies for 2025. 

“We are asking to adopt the provisional budget, but before we do that, I do have some additional changes. With these changes, Terry with the Highway Department has two employees that are 50 percent in weeds and 50 percent in the highway. He wants to leave one in the weeds and take the other and move them back to the highway department. The airport has $36,000 budgeted for management fees, but we no longer have the management out there, so we need to take that out of the budget,” she said. 

The motion was approved.