11/18/13

Without TIF Rapid City soccer complex in limbo

Rapid City schools have no soccer teams sanctioned by the South Dakota High School Athletic Association.

Attorney Doyle Estes donated stolen prairie swampland to the City if it would develop a soccer complex. The property is home to buried toxins: residue from Rapid City's early years. He has extended the deadline for construction:
WHEREAS, the property will not be developed and used for recreational purposes by the
June 1, 2013, deadline; and
WHEREAS, the property is expected to be developed and used for recreational purposes
prior to January 1, 2016...
John Lee McLaughlin wrote in the Rapid City Journal:
The city approved $3.8 million in Vision funds, which are derived from a half-cent sales tax, for the project in 2005 for a more than $10 million, 21-field complex that included an indoor arena. The city's Public Works Department has recommended not using onsite wells based on an analysis done by CETEC Engineering Services that said the option proved too costly over a 20-year period as compared to using treated city water. The department also made its decision due to technical issues with raw water resources in the area such as existing water rights, the quality and the amount of water conceived to be available.

A billionaire and heir to the Mars candy fortune built a soccer complex in the middle of nowhere sorta close to Sheridan, Wyoming.

If Rapid City ever wants to be something someday, especially after Ellsworth Air Force Base closes, she is going to have to start raising some money.

1 comment:

larry kurtz said...

Update, 12 March, 0720 MDT:

I was notified of a hearing to be held this Monday concerning rezoning some land about a 1/4 of a mile west (on Dyess Ave) of the complex. The owner's agent, Tyler Schad, (no relation to Julie) is petitioning the Pennington Co. Planning Commission to approve rezoning land that is now General Agriculture to Heavy Industrial. The reason is to be able to build an Asphalt Batch Plant. I have researched what this means and I believe this idea to be a grave and serious threat to the Complex. There is more information that will be posted on the website.

This plant will be upwind of our fields. The smoke and fumes will be pushed across our fields. There is growing evidence that the fumes are dangerous to health. Dangerous or not we do not want noxious odors ever present at our complex. Please research this issue and come to the Pennington County Planning Commission meeting at 9:00 AM Monday the 13th. It will be held in the Board of Commissioners Meeting Room at 130 Kansas City Street.

We can prevent this but only if we stand up to be counted. Please be there.

–Doug Noyes