Senator Ryan Maher (R-28/Isabel) provided me a little more background on his Senate Bill 58, a measure that clarifies and expands the Department of Transportation’s obligation to remove snow from state highways running through smaller towns.
According to Senator Maher, the Isabel Town Board signed an agreement with the state for snow removal on Highway 65/20 through Isabel in the 1990s. The board also had property owners along the highway sign easements, giving the state authority over everything along the highway from storefront to storefront. DOT would plow, Isabel would hire someone to push the snow out the driveways and other access points, and when DOT got time, DOT would send payloaders and trucks to haul those snowpiles out.
Evidently the state withdrew from the last part of that deal last year. State plows still clear Highway 20/65, but getting that snow out of the easement area is up to the locals. Hence, Senate Bill 58, which would have the state remove snow from the highway in all towns with population 2,500 or less and add the line, “including any paved portion of the street’s right of way.”
SB 58 gets its first hearing Wednesday, January 18, at 8:30 a.m. before Senate Local Government, of which Senator Maher is a member. Four of the seven committee members are from West River.
p.s.: Isabel voted for Trump over Clinton 80% to 17%. Isabel’s desire for bigger state government suggest ideology dies in South Dakota winter.
Everyone wants something for nothing. Who’s buying Sen. Maher breakfast tomorrow? Lunch? Dinner? Drinks?
I’m in Maher’s district and I don’t really trust him considering his party-hopping motivated by expedience and self-aggrandizement rather than any principles or ideology (he was a Democrat in a previous election in order to win the Indian vote, which is heavy in this area, then switched to being a Republican).
That being said, the main question I have regarding this bill is whether it includes additional funding to the state DOT in order to comply with the expanded duties of this bill? Or does Maher and his ilk just expect the DOT to fulfill the bill’s requirements using the magic money tree grown by the sprinkling of fairy dust, which is how most republicans seem to think government can accomplish all the wonderful services expected of it without having to bring up the dreaded T word.
Laurisa, the bill includes no funding, either for additional snow removal or for Senator Maher’s meals Tuesday. ;-)
I see merit in this bill. Approximately 10 years ago the state of South Dakota made a decision (with a little help from the State Supreme Court) that municipalities that are situated along a state highway cannot write a municipal ordinance speeding ticket or any other moving violation along that state highway. Thus, taking a small sliver out of municipal hands. How can the state have it both ways, thatthe state can order that money generated from municipal speeding fines go to the state and yet order those same municipalities to pay for snow removal on their highway?
That’s a fair fiscal point. If the streets aren’t the towns’ to ticket, why should they at all be the towns’ to clear?
We should have no sympathy for Bugtussle. The residents made the conscience choice abutting their businesses, firehalls, etc., to the federal or state road. (Few things are more annoying when traveling than slowing down to pass through a tiny town speed bump that exists thinking it will suck you in to buy gas or a burger.) Snow piles are a consequence of a selfish small town decision. Big brother now plows their “main street” – the least the short-sighted folks could do is move small problem portions of a snowpile. It’s called self-reliance — something South Dakota used to possess.
Self-reliance—isn’t that one of our Governor’s core values? Will we get a juche veto on SB 58?