Construction of the water and sewer main on First Avenue is scheduled to be done the last week of September instead of this month, as the contract calls for.
Crews are making progress on the work that needs to be done, but have already missed the completion deadline that was extended to Aug. 14 at the Aug. 6 council meeting. Work was changed on a valve at one location of the project and three work days were added to the deadline of Aug. 10.
“(We are) Starting to see the light at the end of the tunnel on underground work,” said Shane Waterman with Clark Engineering.
Concrete work was done in the area near the school last week so that paving can be done this week, weather permitting, in time for the start of school.
H&W Contracting out of Sioux Falls is the general contractor on the $4.9 million project. The city has paid about half of the project costs so far, with most of the remaining costs coming from paving work that has yet to be done. City officials, the engineering company representatives and the contractor meet weekly to talk about work being done.
The contractor will be charged a fee for each day work isn’t completed beyond the final contract deadline.
H&W also began working last week on a portion of the project on Third Avenue near Veterans where crews tried to bore under that street to avoid a traffic detour. But workers hit rock and will need to use an open cut process, said Jeff Pederson, city administrator.
The detour that is planned for this week will go west on Pipestone to Industrial Road, south to Broad and back east to Veterans on gravel.

In other city business,
•Council members voted to give the Flandreau Aquatic Center permission to do a fundraiser to work toward buying a battery-operated lift for the pool. That equipment which would allow people with limited mobility access to the water, said Michelle Ten Eyck, pool manager. Ten Eyck said she wants to sell tiles with sponsors names on them again, like the pool did when it was built in 2004. Money raised would help offset the cost of the $6,200 lift, she said.
People interested in a tile can bring information to the pool and eventually to city hall so that work can be done to make the tiles in the offseason and have them installed on the wall inside the pool entrance by next summer. Costs are $100 for a 4-inch tile with only words, $200 for one with words and a black and white logo, $300 for words and a photo and $500 for a 6-inch tile with any combination on it.
The lift is removable and could be stored inside in the winter, she said.
The last day for the pool to be open this summer is Aug. 19.
•Former administrator Don Whitman was installed as an alderman for Ward I, replacing Bart Sample, who moved with his family out of the ward to another area of Flandreau.
Whitman said Sample had been the representative from the council on the planning and zoning commission, but he doesn’t think the commission needs a representative from council.
“I have no desire to do that,” he said. “I don’t think there’s a need to have a council liaison at the planning and zoning meetings.”
Several council members said there is value in having a connection with the citizen commission and ultimately tabled the issue for more information from the planning and zoning members and from city administrator Jeff Pederson.
“I like the idea that our community municipal government is involved, and I think that is a good show of participation,” Alderman Jason Unger said in favor of keeping a council member on the commission.
“Having a liaison there, I always felt was important,” said Dan Sutton, council vice president. “I think it helps the process.”
The planning and zoning commission also works with planning issues and is the board of adjustment and doesn’t limit its role to zoning concerns, Pederson said. “Certainly, a broader base of input is a good thing,” he said, but he also said the necessity of having a council member on the commission might depend on the circumstances of what is being discussed.
•An off-sale and on-sale beer license was approved for Adan Arteaga, who plans to open Los Laureles Authentic Hispanic Food next month. His mini market business will sell food, beer and have a taco shop, said Isaias Randel, who helps with Arteaga’s businesses.
 •The council went into executive session to talk about legal matters but took no action after the closed meeting.
•Big Sioux Tire & Auto has 30 days to remove vehicles that aren’t working and other items from the location on Pipestone Avenue. The city planning and zoning commission met with Bonnie Pinnerud, business manager of Big Sioux, over compliance issues with the conditional use permit, and she said the business would not accumulate tires and other auto parts in the future. The deadline for removal would be later this month.
•Brittany Metcalf wants to open a home day care at 206 N. Prairie, but a neighbor was concerned about the lack of a fence and a shared driveway. The planning and zoning commission approved her request as long as she has proof that she has registered her day care. In addition, Metcalf said she would like to put a fence up in the future.