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The Watertown City Council approved a haul road agreement for J&J Land Sales, LLC. at its Monday night, July 6, meeting at City Hall.
The haul road agreement, which allows J&J to drive heavy tucks along the road while also maintaining a portion of it, comes as a condition of the previously approved conditional use agreement that was approved at the June 18 Watertown Planning Commission meeting which allowed J&J to continue mining operations on the company’s newly annexed property near the Prairie Lakes Ice Arena. The primary road in question is 31st Street SE, but the agreement lists Third Avenue NE as an alternate route.
Council discussion on the matter went rather deep into the issue as it has with most previous decisions regarding J&J, though at one point City Manager Alan Stager said council discussion had gotten off track and attempted to call the question, which is a formal motion to immediately end current debate and force a vote in the issue if the motion carries.
Watertown Mayor Ried Holien denied the request, saying he didn’t have the ability to within Robert’s Rules of Order.
Though Stager couldn’t call the question, City Councilman Doug Allen did. That motion carried unanimously and a vote was forced. The vote also carried.
Prior to Allen’s motion to end the discussion, council discussed the specifics of the haul road agreement, such as if Duininck, a nearby construction company, would be affected by the agreement, who would care for the road, and whether J&J has made good on previous promises to pave the road.
Stager said Duininck wouldn’t be affected by the agreement, though the road’s speed limit, he said, could change for trucks under a certain weight on Third Avenue, regardless of the agreement with J&J. City Engineer Justin Petersen said a solid timeline on when the road will be paved on the portion J&J is on the hook for is yet to be determined, though his department assumes it will be done this construction season.
There is, however, a portion of the road that was paved at least in part by the construction company, which gave better access to houses along the affected road.
He also said there are dust-control measures within the agreement that will impact Duininck’s traffic positively.
Allen also asked how weighing the trucks works and whether J&J had its own scale. Community Development Manager Brandi Hanten said the construction company does have its own scale, so the weight limit agreement could easily be upheld.
Hanten said the agreement is rather standard.
Allen then asked about how violations are addressed.
City Attorney Lisa Carrico said after three violations are reported the city can take corrective action against the company through the conditional use permit.
Allen was also concerned about how violations are reported, since code enforcement employees aren’t on patrol.
Hanten addressed the issue.
“We do have code enforcement,” she said. “It would be a matter of contacting Terry Ingalls with the police department or the community development department. … Like any other violation, (it’s) usually citizen led.”
Councilman Michael Heuer also asked about how issues would be resolved if the road was damaged by a third party, in which case neither the city nor J&J would be obligated to repair the road. Carrico said the case would likely be decided by the facts of the situation.
While the council never brought it up at the meeting, J&J Land Sales has a history of more than a dozen violations regarding mining, which Codington County State’s Attorney Alison Bakken said the county is seeking criminal charges on. Previously this information has been a part of council discussions regarding J&J.
Heuer also dug into deeper technicalities of the haul road agreement, specifically how the agreement would function if there was a spill on the road, or some sort of obstruction. Carrico said if that were the case on 31st Street, then the city engineer can allow the use of Third Avenue as a backup route.
Then Stager attempted to call the question, which led to Allen doing the same after Holien shut Stager down and the discussion ended.
The haul road agreement carried unanimously.
Councilmen Dan Schutte and Lynn Jurrens were absent.
Mayor Ried Holien and former City Councilman Randy Tupper pose for a photo after Tupper received a key to the city. Photo by Tucker Hermans, The Watertown Current.
In other news, the council:
- honored former councilman Randy Tupper with a mayoral proclamation and key to the city for his work on the fireworks display, which Holien said has continuously saved taxpayer dollars. This year the city had to spend only $8,000 out of the total $40,000 used.
- adopted the 2022 international building codes for residential and commercial buildings which for the most part only cleaned up language in the city’s ordinances.
- approved a change order for the reconstruction project of Fifth Avenue North, increasing the price by $30,720.75 to $3,051,214.85.
- approved a memorandum of understanding with Sheridan Township regarding road maintenance.
- authorized the Watertown Police Department to apply for and receive an Airport Security Reimbursement Grant which is just shy of $1,000.
