Not all council members in agreement
This item is available in full to subscribers.
To continue reading, you will need to either log in to your subscriber account, or purchase a new subscription.
If you are a current print subscriber, you can set up a free website account and connect your subscription to it by clicking here.
If you are a digital subscriber with an active, online-only subscription then you already have an account here. Just reset your password if you've not yet logged in to your account on this new site.
Otherwise, click here to view your options for subscribing.
Please log in to continue |
A tornado shelter will be built in the north part of Flandreau, despite opposition by some city council members.
The single-use building that would hold 80 people is expensive in a time where there are better warning systems and buildings that could have multiple uses, including a safe place to go in a storm, said Dan Sutton, council president. He said he spoke with residents in the area where the shelter is planned for, and they don’t think it is needed either.
Originally, the shelter was going to be in Hardin Park, at the southwest corner of Prospect and Crescent, but when council members looked into it more, the building would have taken up most of the green space in that small park and would have been farther away from housing that doesn’t have basements.
The city then spent $3000 to buy the lot at the northeast corner of Prospect and Henry and will have to bring in several feet of fill because the property is in a 500-year-flood plain.
“The more and more I think about this project, the more and more questions come to my mind,” Sutton said. “I try to find multipurpose uses. There’s really nothing this offers.”
Under the grant the city received for the shelter, taxpayers must cover 20 percent of the costs. The last shelter cost $171,000. Estimated costs this time are $190,000 to $210,000, a number that will be unknown until the project is bid, which is scheduled for March.
The city has $75,922 in hand to take care of its match. The grant is for $167,766.