Dave Baumeister | County Correspondent
SIOUX FALLS – This week, Tuesday, October 19, the Minnehaha County Commission heard about three property complaints and took action to declare two of them public nuisances.
By declaring a property in violation of the nuisance statutes in the zoning ordinance, the county will take steps to clean up the two properties and then add the costs of that clean-up to a “special assessment” on the owners’ property tax bills.
At this meeting, the two properties declared nuisances were both parcels that had come before the commission before on other complaints. One of the properties discussed belongs to Ron and Joan Hegge of 46998 246th St., approximately four miles west of Dell Rapids. According Kevin Hoekman from the Planning and Zoning Office, the Hegge’s were previously named in complaints in 2018 on the same property.
At that time, the land was cleaned up to the satisfaction of Planning and Zoning and the action was dropped, but this week the property was again at the forefront of a new complaint from neighboring landowners.
Photos provided by Hoekman showed multiple “junked” and unlicensed vehicles on the property, along with other debris. And this was at the heart of the complaint against the Hegge’s three years ago.
Although at that time there were vehicles in the right-of-way adjacent to the roads, Hoekman said they didn’t seem to be encroaching on the right-of-way this time. Commissioner Jeff Barth said he had driven by the property, and while he concurred with Hoekman’s assessment on the right-of-way, he added that he thought they were “close.”
In answer to a question from Commissioner Gerald Beninga, Hoekman said the land was zoned A1-Ag, which does not allow the owner to operate a salvage yard. Beninga added, “It seems like we do this every year. If this were a test, the owner has flunked.”
Commission chairman Dean Karsky said, “The zoning ordinance is so people can have reasonable expectations. People who want to conduct businesses should get their land rezoned or else knock it off. “We don’t go out looking for problems, somebody called in a complaint that was followed up on.” Beninga then moved to declare the property a public nuisance and that motion carried 5-0.
The second property declared a nuisance was also cited as a “repeat offender” by Hoekman. Land belonging to Kim and Victoria Halverson (or the Halverson Family Trust) at 26345 463rd Ave., three miles south of Hartford in Wall Lake Township also earned a 5-0 commission vote as a nuisance. In 2019, the same land was declared a public nuisance, but was cleaned up by the family before the county had to act, Hoekman said.
Photos he showed from the past month depicted junked vehicles and a plethora of old trashed air conditioning units. The main house on the property was “unlivable,” as it had burned three times, and there was also talk of people living in campers on the site. Hoekman said that after notices went out to the neighbors about the public meeting concerning the property, his office received several calls and commissioners said they had received e-mails, as well.
In the case of both of these nuisance complaints, the property owners were not present to address the problems, but with the Halverson property, one neighbor did talk about the commission as to his worries of the air conditioners leaking freon and other chemicals into a nearby slough which drains into Skunk Creek.
Commissioner Cindy Heiberger, who lives near Hartford, said she unintentionally drove by that property and she “was shocked at what a mess it was.”
Barth, who was also appalled by the photos shown by Hoekman felt the commission needed to investigate the situation more. He said he was worried the fires could be from people cooking meth. Planning director Scott Anderson said that the process for clean-up starts with a public nuisance being declared by the commission, but that it could take some time to hire a contractor to clean it up. And with it being so late in the year, these properties may not be cleaned before next spring.
The third nuisance complaint was on property owned by Keith Dement northwest of Humboldt, but unlike the other owners, he had no previous complaints against him.
Also, according to Hoekman, since his office began investigating that complaint, he felt more than 80% of the land had been successfully cleared. Dement was present to speak about what he was doing to fix the problems and commissioners voted unanimously to defer any action against him until the December 7 meeting.
In other business, briefings were heard from the Minnehaha County Water Development Corporation, as well as the Interlakes Community Action Partnership. Commissioners also voted to sign an agreement for improvements to Slip Up Creek Road, approaching the new veteran’s cemetery.
The next meeting will be at 9 am on Tuesday, October 26 on the second floor of the Minnehaha County Administration Building at 6th and Minnesota in Sioux Falls.
Public comments are always encouraged.