By Watertown Current - May 21, 2026 in Official Proceedings
County of Codington
Codington County Court House
14 1st Ave SE
Watertown, SD 57201
May 05, 2026
The Codington County Commissioners met in regular session at 9:00 a.m., Tuesday, May 05, 2026, at the Codington County Court House. Commission members present were: Lee Gabel, Tyler McElhany, Myron Johnson, Randall Schweer, and Troy VanDusen; VanDusen, presiding. The pledge of allegiance was led by Commissioner McElhany.
CALLS FOR PUBLIC COMMENT AND CONFLICT OF INTEREST ITEMS
Chair VanDusen called for public comments to be taken up during the open portion of the meeting; none were offered. There were no conflict-of-interest items to note.
AGENDA APPROVED
Motion by McElhany, second by Gabel, to approve the agenda for May 05, 2026, as posted; all voted aye; motion carried.
MINUTES APPROVED
Motion by Johnson, second by Schweer, to approve the minutes of April 28, 2026; all voted aye; motion carried.
APPROVAL TO SELL ALCOHOL AT EXTENSION FOR A WEDDING EVENT
Michelle Mack met with the Board to request authorization for alcohol sales at the Mack/Christianson wedding scheduled for August 22nd, 2026, at the Codington County Extension Center Complex. The liquor license held by Cloud 9 will be transferred for this event. Cloud 9 will be regulating all alcohol sales, security, and minor control. Motion by McElhany, second by Schweer, to approve the request for alcohol sales on August 22nd, 2026, at the Extension Center Complex, as requested; all voted aye; motion carried.
PLAT RESOLUTIONS APPROVED
Zoning Office, Luke Muller, provided the Board with documentation for two plats for their approval. The Board took the following action:
RESOLUTION 2026-08
A Resolution to approve the plating of Gardner Addition in the County of Codington, South Dakota
BE IT RESOLVED by the County Commissioners of Codington County, South Dakota, as follows:
That an examination has been made of the plat entitled:
Gardner Addition located in Northeast Quarter of Section 23, Township 117 North, Range 52 West of the 5th P.M.; Codington County, South Dakota (Elmira Township), and that the County Planning Commission of the said County has recommended approval of the said plat, and it also appearing that the plat and survey accompanying the same has been executed according to law.
NOW, THEREFORE, said plat is hereby approved and the County Auditor of Codington County, South Dakota, is hereby authorized to endorse on the said plat a copy of the Resolution and to certify to the same thereon.
The above and foregoing resolution was moved for adoption by Commissioner Johnson, and second by Commissioner Gabel; all voted aye; whereupon the Chair of the Board of County Commissioners declared the same to be duly passed and adopted.
Dated this 5th day of May 2026, at Watertown, Codington County, South Dakota
Troy VanDusen
Commission Chair, Codington County, South Dakota
STATE OF SOUTH DAKOTA
COUNTY OF CODINGTON
I, the undersigned, the duly appointed, elected, qualified, and acting County Auditor of Codington County, South Dakota, do hereby certify that the foregoing is a true and correct copy of Resolution 2026-08, adopted by the Board of County Commissioners of Codington County, South Dakota.
Dated this 5th day of May 2026, at Watertown, Codington County, South Dakota.
Brenda Hanten
County Auditor, Codington County, South Dakota
RESOLUTION 2026-09
A Resolution to approve the plating of CN Zubke Addition in the County of Codington, South Dakota
BE IT RESOLVED by the County Commissioners of Codington County, South Dakota, as follows:
That an examination has been made of the plat entitled:
CN Zubke Addition located in South Half of the Northeast Quarter of Section 12, Township 119 North, Range 52 West of the 5th P.M.; Codington County, South Dakota (Germantown Township), and that the County Planning Commission of the said County has recommended approval of the said plat, and it also appearing that the plat and survey accompanying the same has been executed according to law.
NOW, THEREFORE, said plat is hereby approved and the County Auditor of Codington County, South Dakota, is hereby authorized to endorse on the said plat a copy of the Resolution and to certify to the same thereon.
The above and foregoing resolution was moved for adoption by Commissioner McElhany, and second by Commissioner Schweer; all voted aye; whereupon the Chair of the Board of County Commissioners declared the same to be duly passed and adopted.
Dated this 5th day of May 2026, at Watertown, Codington County, South Dakota
Troy VanDusen
Commission Chair, Codington County, South Dakota
STATE OF SOUTH DAKOTA
COUNTY OF CODINGTON
I, the undersigned, the duly appointed, elected, qualified, and acting County Auditor of Codington County, South Dakota, do hereby certify that the foregoing is a true and correct copy of Resolution 2026-09, adopted by the Board of County Commissioners of Codington County, South Dakota.
Dated this 5th day of May 2026, at Watertown, Codington County, South Dakota.
Brenda Hanten
County Auditor, Codington County, South Dakota
MONTHLY REPORTS
4-H Youth Program Advisor, Jodi Loehrer, updated the Board: The State 4-H Shoot was held April 24-26 in Ft. Pierre with 53 youth which is almost double from last year, 4-H, 4-H Shooting Sports awards and the raffle drawing will be held next week, thank you to all our 4-H Shooting Sports coaches and parents that help; this week I am teaching Junior Achievement to third grade students at Mellette School; I will wrap up Adopt-A-Cow Dairy at Waverly-South Shore this week and also presented at Ave Maria Catholic School; We had our first Family and Consumer Science, Consumer Decision Making and Horticulture Skill-a-thon along with Youth Livestock Literacy last week with two more being held on May 21st and 22nd; A 4-H Dog project meeting will be held tomorrow, Wednesday, May 6th, 2026, at 5:30 p.m.; at the end of May we will have a Special Foods Workshop on May 27th, 2026, to sign up, please call our Extension Office at 605-882-6300; A Kid Kare Babysitting Clinic will be held on June 4th, 2026, registration is now open until May 8th, 2026. Veterans Service Officer, Jay Roberts, updated the Board: metrics for the month, 133 open claims (working claims) 53 pending action from VA, 112 completed (YTD), Hamlin 15 open (working claims) 8 pending from VA, 13 completed (YTD), currently working for 9 veterans and have completed 5 claims for veterans from outside our county; $18,900 for the month April 2026, increase in monthly compensation for veterans or their dependents YTD monthly increase $59,704; $177,468 for the month of April 2026, retro-payment to bring a claim current to monthly compensation YTD retro-payments $327,921.73; 3 veteran DAV transports in April, 2 – currently scheduled for May, currently 3 drivers with 1 application being processed to become a driver; CURRENT – April 22nd, 2026, was at Avantara in Watertown, spoke with veterans and their spouses on possible benefits available; advertising for Volunteer Drivers to drive the DAV van; FUTURE – meeting with the commanders on May 5, 2026, at the VFW; radio shows KWAT – 8:30 and KXLG – 9:05 on May 7th, 2026; looking to plan a 2nd Quarter Outreach event either at Edgewood Assisted Living or Estelline Care Center to inform the veteran residents and family members of possible pension benefits. Emergency Management Director, Andrew Delgado, updated the Board: held a Crisis Tracking training for Township Supervisors, great turnout from townships with 60 plus and 4 counties attending and City and County staff; hosted two Weather Spotter training classes with 84 people attending; attended meetings for National Night Out, Region 2 meeting, 911 advisory board meeting, and flood mitigation meeting; Region 2 hosted a Regional exercise in Aberdeen at the Ethanol Plant; Search and Rescue put out buoys at Memorial Park; submitted Township Rosters and quarterly report for EMPG grant; outdoor weather siren testing for the county and for City of Watertown, thanked everyone for helping Cheri with testing the weather sirens.
2026-2027 MALT BEVERAGE LICENSE RENEWALS
Motion by McElhany, second by Johnson, to approve the following 2026-2027, on/off sale, Malt Beverage license renewal applications as announced by Auditor, Brenda Hanten: David Bludorn, DBA – Rooster Bar; W.J. Schmitt Enterprise, Inc., DBA – Southfork Lounge; Sisseton-Wahpeton Sioux Tribe, DBA Dakota Sioux Casino and Joy C. Nelson, DBA – Joy Ranch of South Dakota; all voted aye; motion carried.
PERSONNEL CHANGES
Motion by McElhany, second by Gabel, to approve the following personnel change: John Engels, Seasonal re-hire Assistant Weed Supervisor, DD/Step A, $27.66 per hour, effective 5-01-2026; all voted aye; motion carried; Motion by McElhany, second by Schweer, to approve the following personnel change: Zachery Dargatz, full-time Administrative Support Auditors Office, G20/Step A, $21.96 per hour, effective 5-01-2026; all voted aye; motion carried.
TRAVEL REQUEST
Motion by Johnson, second by Gabel, to approve the following travel request: Government Building staff to attend an Equipment Rodeo and Detention Center staff to attend training; all voted aye; motion carried.
OLD BUSINESS
Commissioner Gabel reported that since dissolving the Public Defender contract there has been an increase in expenses to the Court Appointed Attorney budget; to help decrease this a Pre-trial case manager job description is being established and hope to advertise to hire someone for this position, they will take routine calls and other routine work to take the workload off the attorneys.
ADJOURNMENT
Upon conclusion of all business to come before the Board, a motion was made by Johnson, second by McElhany to adjourn at 9:25 a.m., all voted aye; motion carried.
ATTEST:
Brenda Hanten
Codington County Auditor
Codington County does not discriminate on the basis of color, national origin, sex, religion, age, or disability in employment or the provision of service.
Published once on May 21, 2026, at the total approximate cost of $100.62 and can be viewed free of charge at www.sdpublicnotices.com and www.watertowncurrent.com.