Mitchell’s successful planning initiative paves way for more progress – Daily Republic

In 2009, a large group of Mitchell residents dedicated more than 3,000 hours to craft a roadmap for the future called Focus 2020. Fast forward to 2017 and Mitchell has accomplished much of what the community plan hoped to see achieved by 2020, leaving the city in need of a new plan to continue moving Mitchell forward.

"It's time that we as a community make new goals," said Mitchell City Administrator Stephanie Ellwein.

A request from Ellwein will arise in this fall's budget hearings for 2018 to establish a larger community visioning session to keep the city's wheels in motion, which Ellwein said would likely be preceded by a city strategic planning effort. Once the city's narrowed its ideas, the community visioning process would be a similar collaborative effort to the one that took place eight years ago.

And Ellwein believes another planning effort will keep the city on track toward a better future.

"Anything to continue moving forward as a community," Ellwein said about another community planning effort.

Dreaming big

The recommendations of Focus 2020 ranged from large to small, from the hope to minimize algae at Lake Mitchell within 20 years to a plan to televise Mitchell City Council meetings.

The city has made progress or completed many of the smaller items like televising City Council meetings or improving the area at the west end boat dock at Lake Mitchell, but the city also attempted to tackle some of the larger efforts.

The city also dove head-first into a lake improvement plan, kicking off the effort with a $73,725 study from water quality specialists Fyra Engineering that could ultimately lead to a full-scale lake restoration effort.

Both Ellwein and City Council President Jeff Smith see lake restoration as a priority, particularly in the wake of a massive algae bloom that led to the city discouraging contact with the lake, but what's next?

Smith said the city is in good shape, but he said the city can always aspire for more.

"I think we're doing pretty good, but you can always hope and wish and dream," Smith said.

Smith is simultaneously dreaming big and focusing on the small stuff, hoping to improve Mitchell in every way, just like Focus 2020 aimed to do eight years ago.

From City Hall's perspective, many of the major tasks the municipal government hoped to achieve in its capacity are already completed or underway. Ranging from Lake Mitchell studies to a $4.7 million Corn Palace investment and the expansion of the Hitchcock Park tennis courts, the city of Mitchell has been able to check off many of the boxes created through the Focus 2020 visioning process.

'Next big project'

But after thinking long and hard about the different aspects of the community that need improvement, Smith's eyes were drawn to North Capital Street.

"As far as the community is concerned, to be quite honest with you, I think the next big project really should be our high school," Smith said. "We've got a very good education system in Mitchell and we've got very good facilities besides one, and that's the high school."

While the Mitchell Board of Education was recently hesitant to say when the Mitchell High School should be replaced, instead collectively saying a new high school is worth considering, Smith sees replacing the 55-year-old school as a critical measure toward making the community more attractive to businesses and workers.

Smith acknowledged the Mitchell School District has a plan for the project in the future, but the timeframe of 10 to 15 years might be too far down the road.

"I would really like to see if the community would be willing to step that up and maybe pay for it sooner than later," Smith said. "And I know it's going to take some opt-out, and I know that's kind of a dirty word."

An opt-out would raise property taxes to generate more money for the district, and Smith said he'd be interested in knowing whether the community would be willing to speed up the construction of a new high school through the opt-out approach.

Smith said it's no secret that Mitchell's high school is the worst of the larger-sized schools in the state, and the economic benefits alone would have an impact on the city of approximately 15,000.

"I really feel what that's going to do is that would be the biggest asset to try to attract and retain our young families," Smith said. "... We've done a lot, and I don't want to just harp on the school, but in reality, that's one of the biggest features that families look at when they move to a community."

With Smith eyeing a new high school as a priority, fellow Councilman Marty Barington hopes to double down on the restoration of Lake Mitchell mentioned in the Focus 2020 plan.

A recommendation in Focus 2020 set the timeline for Lake Mitchell water quality improvements at 20 years, leaving approximately 12 years for the city to rectify its algae problem if it hopes to beat the goal set in the community visioning process. But Barington said the issues at the lake have persisted for so many years that it's getting "ridiculous."

"It's sad to see where the lake is today, and I know that is sort of a huge priority when Fyra comes out with their answer," Barington said. "And we know that answer is going to come with a huge dollar sign."

Barington said his goal is to determine how the city will pay for the lake restoration recommendations, and he's looking to take an aggressive approach at addressing the lake's algae problem.

As for short-term priorities on the lake, Barington wants to find out if the lake can actually be saved or whether it can be stabilized. He also hopes to learn how much better the lake could get if the city invests in a long-term restoration project. And with a community visioning process possibly on the horizon, Barington said nearly everywhere he goes in Mitchell he gets asked about the lake.

"I've never been hit so many times on Lake Mitchell," Barington said. "... I mean, it's just absolutely the worst level that we've seen."

Funding new facilities

While Lake Mitchell and a new high school may steal the spotlight in the long-term, Mitchell's two longest-tenured councilmen have other ideas to improve the city of Mitchell.

Barington's sights are set on more indoor activity centers in city limits, giving area athletes a place to practice and play when South Dakota's unpredictable weather makes outdoor recreation difficult.

With only a few months of quality weather in Mitchell, Barington said the addition of more indoor basketball courts and other multipurpose facilities would bring Mitchell up to speed with other South Dakota communities.

"We've definitely invested in our outdoor grounds quite a bit, and I think we need to start focusing on things that can be used more during that winter time," Barington said.

He suggested a "fieldhouse" type setting that could be used for various sports when the recently improved Pepsi-Cola Soccer Complex, Cadwell Sports Complex and Hitchcock Park tennis courts are covered in snow. A new facility, or facilities, would also help solve the shortage of basketball courts in city limits, according to Barington.

Barington's vision could be achieved in part by a renovation to the Mitchell Recreation Center. At Thursday's special meeting of the Mitchell Parks and Recreation Board, a possible $4 million renovation to the facility was mentioned, although no formal recommendation was made to move forward with the project.

With Barington looking at new quality of life facilities, Smith is looking at adding places for young families to live.

With a few "unattractive" mobile homes in Mitchell, Smith suggested possibly sprucing up a mobile home community while also adding more starter homes for families.

"Somehow I think we're going to have to try to balance some type of public program with some private industry," Smith said about a public-private housing partnership.

Mitchell Area Development Corporation's Executive Director Bryan Hisel agreed that housing is always a need, which ties into his priorities to recruit and retain workers to the Mitchell area. But perhaps Hisel's biggest and boldest vision for Mitchell is the addition of a new business and industry park.

"We've never really had a park area where all of the infrastructure, or most of it, was in," Hisel said. "... And that really lets both local companies and new firms grow and expand, and I think that's a priority that should probably be in the mix."

But where does the industrial park go?

Hisel doesn't know, but he said it will require a significant portion of land that isn't in a residential neighborhood.

And that's why Hisel sees value in the broad discussions with business leaders, city officials and the public to determine the best solutions for the city of Mitchell.

Although some of these goals may be lofty, Hisel said working together as a community to come to a consensus is necessary in moving Mitchell forward.

"It's really the only way to do it," Hisel said.

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Mitchell's successful planning initiative paves way for more progress - Daily Republic