Centerville Economic Development Infrastructure Projects
Click on the links below to jump to the project description.
1 - Centerville Safe Routes to School Program (SRTS)
2 - Centerville Bike Path Program
3 - Peder Larsen Park Playground Equipment
4 - Dr. C.C. Pascale Ball Field Renovation Project
1) Centerville Safe Routes to School Program
The Safe Routes to School programs enable community leaders, schools and parents across the United States to improve safety and encourage more children to safely walk and bicycle to school. In the process, programs are working to reduce traffic congestion and improve health and the environment, making communities more livable for everyone. Learn more at www.saferoutesinfo.org/
Saturday, August 08, 2009 by Bill Hansen
Jackie Nelson, Doug Voss and I met with Karen Anderson of the National Park Service on July 14th. We discussed and began identifying routes for The Safe Routes to School Program. Angela Olson with the South Dakota Department of Transportation will be presenting The Safe Routes program in Centerville in September. We will need several community members to be involved in this program including; law enforcement, school administration, PE instructor, mayor, city finance officer, local health and safety advocates and parents. The DOT offers grants to assist with this project.
Inaugural Safe Routes Meeting - Saturday, August 08, 2009
There will be a meeting for all volunteer committee members on the Safe Routes to School and Bike Path projects on Wednesday, August 26 at 6:00 pm at the First Midwest Bank. Since this is a kick-off meeting, your presence is very important. We plan to discuss the latest info about the Safe Routes to School project, develop team roles and responsibilities and physically walk and assess the routes.
There will also be a kick-off meeting for the entire community on Wednesday, September 2 at 6:00 PM at the Centerville School Commons to learn about the Safe Routes to School and Bike Path projects. We will need everyone's support for these projects to be successful.
For more information about either of these meetings, send an e-mail to Bill Hansen at bjhansen@hcinet.net or telephone at 605.201.7593. Jackie Nelson can be contacted at 605.660.1696 or e-mail at wjnelson@hcinet.net
Friday, October 09, 2009
Angela Olson with the South Dakota Department of Transportation presented information on the Safe Routes to School Program on September 2nd. The purpose of this program is to encourage, educate, enforce, evaluate and provide engineering for developing safe routes to school. Grants may provide almost 100% of costs associated with developing this program. The grant application became available on their website on September 15th and is due in March, 2010. SECOG will assist us in putting together the grant application free of charge. The grant does not include reimbursing expenses incurred prior to grant approval, which will include preliminary engineering expenses, which are required for the project to move forward.
October is National Walk to School Month or "Walktober". Wednesday, October 7th, is International Walk to School Day. To celebrate the event and to kick off our Safe Routes to School Program, the preschool through 8th grade students will have the opportunity to walk to school from Peder Larson Park each Wednesday in October. Everyone is invited to participate with our students each Wednesday morning at 7:50. The City Council, Centerville businesses and community organizations are especially invited on Wednesday, October 14th.
Friday, January 08, 2010
Our SRTS committee met on December 2nd to update status on our SRTS grant application. Nathan Lund from WSN completed some engineering work, estimating $80,000 of infrastructure improvements, mostly sidewalks. We discussed expanding routes to include Washington, Broadway & State Streets. We will get together with SECOG to update application and develop a timetable for finalizing the grant application. The grant is due 3/25/10.
Tuesday, March 30, 2010 by Bill Hansen
I am pleased to report that our Safe Routes to School grant application was submitted on March 25th. This project was truly a team effort, with several community members working on various portions of the application. Thank you to Jacquelyn Skotvold for inputting the SRTS parent & student surveys and gathering bids for non-infrastructure, Harry Smith for updating SRTS information on the Centerville website, Shawn Johnson for completing infrastructure evaluations, Anne Myers for administering the student/parent surveys and Jackie Nelson for providing a meeting site and promoting the project. A special thanks to Nancy Surprenant of SECOG for helping me re-evaluate the route and writing the final grant application.
Friday, June 25, 2010 by Bill Hansen
The Safe Routes to School (SRTS) Selection Committee at the Dept of Transportation has recommended the City of Centerville's Safe Routes to School (SRTS) program for funding. We will receive $202,795.50 and were one of twelve communities competing for a total of $900,000. Click here to see the selection letter in Word Document format.
This map shows the proposed areas of concentration for the Safe Routes to School Program. The areas are close to the school and encompass some local neighborhoods. As part of the project, the City plans to construct new sidewalks, pedestrian ramps and painted street crossings. The City has contracted with HR Green, Inc. to design the proposed sidewalk improvements. Some sidewalks already exist along portions of the proposed route, but some do not meet current Americans with Disabilities Act requirements or are in need of repair. New sidewalks or improvements to existing sidewalks are planned along portions of the following streets marked in yellow:
• The north side of Vermillion Street from the Vermillion River to Broadway Street
• The south side of Vermillion Street from Broadway Street to Florida Street
• The west side of Florida Street from North Street to Railroad Street
• The north side of Lincoln Street from Dakota Street to Coleman Street
• The south side of Lincoln Street from Nebraska Street to Dakota Street
• The east side of Dakota Street from Railroad Street to North Street
75% of the project costs will be paid through funding the City received through the Federal SRTS program. The City plans to fund the remaining 25% of the project costs by assessing the property owners adjacent to the sidewalk improvements. The assessment process allows the City to recoup a proportionate share of the costs from the property owners over a number of years. The assessment would appear as an additional tax liability payable along with the owner's other assessed real estate taxes.
The sidewalk assessment will be based on the owner's property front-footage. For example, if your property has 100 ft of front-footage and is receiving 100 ft of new 5 ft wide sidewalk and the sidewalk costs $20.00 to construct a 5 ft wide sidewalk per front foot, the sidewalk cost would be $2,000. The property owner is responsible for and assessed 25% of that amount, or $500 in this example. In this example, the City would collect the owner's share over the course of a few years, the number of years is yet to be determined by the City but cannot exceed a total of five years. The City would also set an interest rate applicable to the unpaid amount of the sidewalk assessment.
South Dakota law generally requires that the City demand that the property owners construct the sidewalks themselves. If the property owners do not construct the sidewalks themselves by a specified date, the City is then authorized to construct the sidewalks and assess the costs to the property owners. Thus, as required by South Dakota law, the City is sending notices to the property owners, which notices demand that the owners construct the sidewalks by a specified date. The City is complying with State laws by sending out the notices and demanding that the owners construct the sidewalks. However, it is fully anticipated that most, if not all, of the property owners will not construct the sidewalks themselves and will prefer to take advantage of the SRTS program.
If any owner constructs sidewalks on their own, the money from the SRTS program will NOT be available to reimburse the owner for any share of the sidewalk costs incurred by that property owner. The SRTS program funds are available only to the City and only offset actual costs incurred by the City. Thus, in order to take advantage of the 75% cost savings resulting from the SRTS program, the property owner must allow the City to construct the sidewalks, apply the SRTS programs funds to the City's costs and then allow the City to assess the remaining 25% of the costs against the property. Once the City has assessed the costs, the property owners can either pay the assessment right away and avoid interest charges or may pay off the assessment in incremental installments.
If you have any questions, please contact Bill Hansen with the City at 605-201-7593 or Phil Gundvaldson with HR Green at 605-221-2656.
Tuesday, March 29, 2011
A public information meeting on the SRTS project was held at School Commons of the Centerville School on March 29, 2011. There was a short presentation followed by an open house format with representatives from the City and HR Green available to address questions and obtain public input.
May 29, 2011
Bill Hansen has been working with our engineer in finalizing the encroachment survey for our sidewalk plan for SRTS. Once this is accepted by the SD DOT we will advertise for bids and construct the sidewalks. Our SRTS committee will be meeting on June 14th to begin working on the non-infrastructure portion of the grant.
June 30, 2011
Our engineer has prepared cost estimates and we are awaiting word from the SD DOT to begin advertising for bids for the infrastructure, (sidewalk) portion of our SRTS grant. The SRTS committee met on June 20th to begin planning the implementation of the non-infrastructure portion of our grant. We have a follow-up meeting planned for July 12th at 7 PM at the Centerville Community Pharmacy community room.
July 29, 2011
We will be opening bids for the sidewalk portion of our SRTS project on Thursday, August 4th at 3 PM. A final completion date of October 15th, 2011 is anticipated. Letters are going out on August 1st to property owners who will be having sidewalks replaced.
Our SRTS committee has been working on the non-infrastructure portion of the grant. We will be holding a SRTS community kick-off dinner and presentation at the school open house on Monday, August 22nd, at 6 PM. On Saturday, September 24th, we will hold a Bike Rodeo at the Centerville School and on Wednesday, October 5th, we will celebrate and participate in International Walk to School Day. We have many other SRTS activities planned in the next few months.
September 24, 2011
Here are some pixs from the Bike Rodeo,
October 1, 2011
Construction began around town on the new SRTS sidewalks. Here are some pixs.
2) Centerville Bike Path Program
Saturday, August 08, 2009
Weverstad Donation Makes Bike Path Possible
Every now and then something extraordinary happens. One of those exceptional things happened to the community of Centerville last week. The family of the late Walt and Helene Weverstad, Judy (Weverstad) and Wally Evans and Terry and Sheree (Paulson) Weverstad, pledged $50,000 to develop a bike path originating at the site of the former dam in Centerville.
The significance of this gift is much farther reaching than the $50,000. This money can be leveraged as Centerville's local match in obtaining grant funds. Many of the grants through agencies like the Department of Transportation and the Game, Fish and Parks are 80:20 matches, which means that the $50,000 has the potential of yielding up to $250,000 in total funding.
The cash donation is not all that Walt Weverstad did for Centerville. Those of us who are a little older remember him as an active member of Centerville, serving as President of the Chamber of Commerce and Rotary Club, a member of the Good Samaritan Advisory Board for over 20 years, Director of the Centerville Industrial Development Corporation, serving as city auditor for 11 years and on the volunteer Fire Department for 26 years. He was a 58 year continuous member of the Rotary Clubs in Centerville and Yankton, and in 1983 chaired the Centerville Centennial Book Committee. He served as past Master of Myrtle Lodge No. 91, A.F. & A.M. He was a member of Yankton Scottish Rite Consistory, the Sioux Falls El Riad Shrine and Centerville Ivy Chapter of the Order of the Eastern Star. He was the owner and editor of the Centerville Journal for over 36 years, and during that time he actively supported the school system attending sport events and other school activities. Walt could always be seen in the stands with his note pad and pen. Walt and Helene also owned and operated the Broadway Theatre. As Rotarian and community leader, he was instrumental in many projects and recruited businesses to become established in Centerville, including the Good Samaritan Center and Fireball Decals. Walt and Helene were members of the United Church of Christ in Centerville.
The Weverstad family could have used this money in many other ways, but as their daughter, Judy, said; "Dad would have wanted it to be used for what would do the most good for Centerville."
Inaugural Safe Routes/Bike Path Meetings - Saturday, August 08, 2009
There will be a meeting for all volunteer committee members on the Safe Routes to School and Bike Path projects on Wednesday, August 26 at 6:00 pm at the First Midwest Bank. Since this is a kick-off meeting, your presence is very important. We plan to discuss the latest info about the Safe Routes to School project, develop team roles and responsibilities and physically walk and assess the routes.
There will also be a kick-off meeting for the entire community on Wednesday, September 2 at 6:00 PM at the Centerville School Commons to learn about the Safe Routes to School and Bike Path projects. We will need everyone's support for these projects to be successful.
For more information about either of these meetings, send an e-mail to Bill Hansen at bjhansen@hcinet.net or telephone at 605.201.7593. Jackie Nelson can be contacted at 605.660.1696 or e-mail at wjnelson@hcinet.net
Friday, January 08, 2010 by Bill Hansen
I received word that transportation enhancement grant applications are due February 1st. We have minimal background work complete on the bike path plan, as most of the time has been devoted to SRTS application. SECOG will also be assisting us with this grant application. When we meet, we will discuss whether we have time to gather the info needed to complete this application prior to the due date. I have continued to stay in contact with the Weverstad family, since they have pledged $50,000 toward that project. There are also grants available through Game, Fish & Parks for bike paths.
3/28/10 by Bill Hansen
We have not received official word on the status of our Transportation Enhancement Grant that was submitted in late January. I called the Department of Transportation and they told me that the pedestrian path on the north side of the Vermillion River Bridge, by Gunderson Park, is inadequate for biking and walking. I will be in Pierre from April 7th through April 9th and plan to visit with them then about our pending application.
I will also be working with Nancy Surprenant on completing a Recreational Trails grant through the South Dakota Game, Fish & Parks Department. This grant is due on April 30th.
6/30/10 by Bill Hansen
We heard this week from the SD Game Fish & Parks that our application for recreational trail at Gunderson Park was denied. Denial was based on our inability to get anything worked out on the Vermillion River Bridge to connect the Gunderson Park Trail to the City.
We are still waiting for funding results from the DOT on our transportation enhancement grant application. The bridge issue may be a problem on this grant also. If denied, we will look at other options and plan to submit an application again next year.
8/23/10 by Bill Hansen
I received word on August 4th that our application for transportation enhancement grant of $335,000 was approved to fund a bike path on the west side of town. Centerville was one of four communities in South Dakota to receive this type of funding from the DOT. There are many details that will need to be worked out before construction will begin in 2011.
I also had the opportunity to meet with the Weverstad family, (Terry & Sherree Weverstad and Judy & Wally Evans) on August 22nd to discuss the project. Their $50,000 donation made this project possible.
5/29/11 by Bill Hansen
The Centerville Bike Path committee met on May 24th to discuss options for our bike path. The original route was to connect Berry Park to Gunderson Park. HR Green's engineers prepared cost estimates, ranging from $300,000 to $400,000, to modify or construct a bridge across the Vermillion River. Kent Austin suggested an alternative route that would connect Berry Park with Pedar Larsen Park, avoiding the need for a bridge. The committee endorsed this plan. I met with the South Dakota DOT in Pierre on May 26th to discuss this option. I received an email on May 28th stating that the DOT and the Federal Highway Administration approves of our revised plan.
The bike path committee is preparing to welcome and provide refreshments for the Tour De Kota annual bike trip that will be stopping in Centerville on the morning of June 10th.
6/30/11 by Bill Hansen
Kent Austin and I have begun discussion with the property owners on the north side of Centerville where the revised bike path may go. So far it looks favorable in developing a route connecting Berry Park to Pedar Larsen Park.
3) Peder Larsen Park Playground Equipment
Friday, 6/3/2011 - The new playground equipment was delivered and dropped off at the park.
We are planning to remove the old sets late this week and will be installing the new sets next week, so the playground will be out-of-commission from June 9th until June 17th. We appreciate your patience and understanding.
The supervised installation of playground equipment is scheduled to begin the week of June 13th. Six to ten workers are needed to assist with the installation.
Monday, 6/20/2011 - We completed the supervised installation of our playground equipment on June 17th. Dakota Fence provided a supervisor the first three days, with City workers and volunteers assisting. It took the entire week to complete the project, including installing the landscaping and manufactured wood fibers. Thank you to Kent, Chris, the City workers, the Centerville FFA, the playground equipment committee, Tuffy’s Tots and all of the community members that helped!
4) Dr. C.C. Pascale Ball Field Renovation Project
07/19/2011 - Received Proposal from American Fence Company (47061 Charlotte Court, Sioux Falls, SD 57108). Total Cost to Repair Fence: $10,921.00
Repair of 4 ft tall sideline and outfield fence per 1 each field. All posts and chain link fabric shall be reused): $2,603.00
Repair and reinstall 60 ft of 12 ft tall chain link fence at 1 each backstop, includes 2 each new middle rail.: $3,245.00
Provide and install 80 ft of new chain link per 1 each dugout. 8 ft tall chain link fence shall be installed on the field side of the dugout and 6 ft tall chain link fence shall be installed on the sides and back of the dugout: $5,073.00
08/1/2011 - Centerville Area Foundation awards a grant in the amount of $2000 towards the Centerville Ball Field Renovation Project.
08/5/2011 - Turface Athletics (46958 Mindy Street, Tea, SD 57064) Proposal for Home Plate replacement:
Turface Clay Blocks for Home Plates (Order from Tessman): $1,118.00
Turface Mound Clay (40, 50 lbs bags @ $14.95): $598.00
Turface MVP Infield Mix (40, 50 lbs bags @ $14.95): $378.00
08/9/2011 - Received Quote from Beacon Athletics for Fence Cap:
(8) 250 ft (2,000 ft total) rolls of fence cap (standard yellow or green) $1352.00. Freight would be approx. $200.00. Cable ties would be another option for $25/100 pack. This also includes a free installation zipper.
Received Quote from Beacon Athletics for new Field Liner. Streamliner 353P Field Liner (Beacon Athletics): $376.00
08/10/2011 - Knudson Masonry Proposal for Dugouts
Labor & Materials for concrete footing, pad and trenching: $1500 for each dugout for a total of $6000 plus excise tax. Dugout size is 8 ft x 20 ft
08/11/2011 - Submitted Minnesota Twins Fields for Kid Grant Application.
08/02/2011 - Shawn Johnson received Volunteer Service Award from Wells Fargo in the amount of $1000.00. These funds are being designated for the Centerville Ball Field Renovation Project. Click here to view the award letter. (PDF 310kb)
09/12/2011 - Tricia Eide provided final details on the Set-In-Stone project. The Ball Field Committee is selling bricks for community members to purchase a brick for $50.00 to be personalized.
09/20/2011 - Community Letters and Set-In-Stone letters mailed to community members.
By next spring the Pascale Field Renovation Project would like to build a 3 ft. wall around each dugout with bricks. To truly make this a community project we invite you to leave your permanent testament by purchasing your own personalized brick. Sandblasted on your brick could be your family name, a graduating class, your ball team name, your organization name, or you can choose to honor a loved one's memory. We will make every attempt to accommodate your wishes as long as they fit in the boundaries of 15 characters per line at the cost of $50 per brick.
Click here to download the Set-In-Stone Order form. (PDF 63kb) The deadline for ordering your brick is December 31, 2011.
Received notification that Sanford Health will donate $1,000 to the project. Funds will be sent in July 2012.
09/22/2011 - Received $2,000 donation from Phil & Shelley Pascale for ball field project. They have requested that signage be done to display Dr. Pascale's name. The committee is working on a design.
09/23/2011 - Received notification from the Minnesota Twins that we were awarded the $10,000 Field for Kids Grant. Click here to view the award letter. (PDF 320kb)
Click here to view the Twins Comminty Fund Info letter. (Word 875kb)
09/24/2011 - Ball Field Fundraiser. - Raised over $5,000.
10/03/2011 - Tricia Eide and Shawn Johnson provided an update on the Ball Field Fundraiser and work progress to the Centerville City Council.
10/04/2011 - The Centerville Shop Class started to tear down the crow's nest on the South Field.