The Minnehaha Bus Tour made a stop at the Dakota Line Dairy in Humboldt to learn about the demand in the area for dairy. (Photo/Amy Farr)

Sara Stadem | Editor

For the last four or five years, with the exception of last year due to COVID-19, the Sioux Metro Growth Alliance (SMGA) has held the Minnehaha County Bus Tour, according to SMGA President and CEO Jesse Fonkert.
This year, the bus tour was held on Tuesday, October 12, departing from the Minnehaha County Highway Building at 8:05 am and returning at 4 pm after several stops along the way.
“The goal is to get county commissioners, county staff, city officials (the rural communities) and our board members to gather together to learn about the economic impact of communities outside of Sioux Falls that are within the county,” Fonkert explained.
Topics that were discussed at stops along the way for area communities included the City of Crooks, Hunter’s Pointe, Hartford Regional Wastewater Proposal and a tour of Dakota Line Dairy.
Fonkert explained Crooks City Councilman Jacob Maras discussed the developments that are currently happening in Crooks. In addition, county employee spoke about improvements for highway 130.
Hartford Mayor Jeremy Menning explained he spoke about the journey they have been on in planning their new wastewater treatment facility. “Our current wastewater lagoons have nearly reached the end of their useful life and we have to have a new facility up and running by 2025 in order to meet discharge requirements and keep up with our growing community,” Mayor Menning said.
According to Mayor Menning, he spoke about the options they are exploring that will serve their community for the next 50 years, one option being to build a facility that is robust and expandable so that they can offer solutions for the region around Hartford.
When asked what he hoped to gain from this experience for the city of Hartford, Mayor Menning said, “This bus tour was a great chance for the city leaders of Minnehaha County to get to know each other and learn about the successes, challenges and opportunities we are facing.”
Mayor Menning concluded, “I thought the tour went really well. It was a great opportunity to see what is happening across the county.”
Fonkert explained during the bus tour at the Dakota Line Dairy, they learned that Minnehaha County is one of the easiest counties to go through to set up a CAFO (Confined Animal Feeding Operations).
Fonkert said, “There is an inflex of dairy in Minnehaha County and there seems to be more of them coming with the demand in the area for dairy. So, it was good to learn about that process.”
As for what’s next, Fonkert said, “It’s all just presenting the information to the county commission. Our intension is to help spread the word as to what our communities are doing and how the county can be of assistance or what the county does that might be a negative to our communities.”
Fonkert also explained that the Minnehaha County is starting to track information as to the “asks” that are out there and what they (surrounding communities) are doing, where the needs are which will be helpful.
“I think today was the perfect opportunity for our commissioners and staff to see the economic impact and what’s going on in the suburbs,” Fonkert said. He concluded, “I’m excited for them to know what’s been going on but most importantly I’m most excited about the idea of helping our communities attract more families and businesses in a responsible and sustainable manner.”