Fort Pierre residents to vote on rural water deal

FORT PIERRE — The city of Fort Pierre’s deal to purchase more expensive rural water isn’t out of the woods yet.

Around 150 Fort Pierre residents signed petitions to refer to a popular vote the council’s decision to sign a water purchase agreement with West River/Lyman-Jones Rural Water Systems. Petitioners are upset over the higher fees involved — up 66 percent higher for many customers — and believe the city is rushing into the deal.

“I don’t know what the benefit really is,” said Dale Kastner, a Fort Pierre resident who circulated petitions to refer the decision to a popular vote. “I don’t know what’s wrong with our water right now.”

Proponents of the rural water deal say minerals in Fort Pierre’s well-based water are hard on appliances and add significant costs to water-using businesses such as bars, car washes and water parks.

The petitions were turned in Wednesday. Within 10 days of the submission of the petitions, the Fort Pierre City Council must meet consider them and set a date for an election. The election must be on a Tuesday within 30 days of the petition submission.

Fort Pierre Finance Officer David Page said the available dates for an election if the petition is upheld are Oct. 20, Oct. 27 or Nov. 3.

Mayor Sam Tidball, a supporter of the rural water agreement, said he looks forward to the election.

“It’ll be good to have the election to decide whether people really want better quality water,” Tidball said.

After the rural water agreement was approved, Tidball said there was a chance a legal technicality could make the referendum not referable. But Tidball said Thursday he won’t try to block the vote.

“I wouldn’t stand in the way of the election,” he said. “If they have the petition and it’s been legally signed, I certainly think we should go ahead with the election.”

The referendum would only affect the decision to purchase the rural water and not the separate ordinance raising water rates. Tidball said if the voters rejected the rural water agreement, the city council would probably revisit the city’s water rates — but he said the rates will still go up somewhat to cover existing costs.

Kastner said he hopes the election brings public input to a process he believes has lacked it.

“They kind of pushed it through without letting the public know about it,” he said. “My commissioner didn’t call me or any of my neighbors to say, ‘Hey, we’re going to switch to this rural water. What do you think about this?’”

But Tidball said he believes most Fort Pierre residents will support the rural water decision.

“I’m sure there will be some on both sides, as there usually is,” he said. “I think the majority of people probably feel that it’s good to have better quality water.”

Whichever way the public votes, Tidball said the fact an election is being held is unusual. In his 20 years in city government, Tidball said this is the first referendum he remembers.