There's Trouble in Hot Springs. And that starts with T, which rhymes with "G" and that stands for "Golf Course"

By -
So far, Legislative Audit has come down on the dealings behind the Hot Springs Golf Course. Followed by the City Council signing a letter demanding the mayor's resignation for his part in it.

And that's been followed by the Mayor filing an open meetings complaint against the council, because he claims it was an unannounced or closed meeting when they allegedly met to sign the
letter asking for his resignation.

And as the Rapid City Journal is reporting today, this saga is continuing to roll on:

The golf-course addition built for the city of Hot Springs looks good and plays well, but it isn’t the golf course the city ordered from the course developer, according to Pat Wyss of Wyss Associates of Rapid City.

Wyss said the golf-course greens and tee boxes are smaller than the specifications in the contract, and the drainage is inadequate. He also questioned some construction costs itemized by builder Steve Simunek.

and...

Earlier this fall, a state audit found that state laws were broken in how the land-swap deal was made. The audit found that the city should have had land in the swap appraised. Simunek said he agreed that appraisals should have been conducted.

Last week, Wyss presented his report outlining a list of problems at the golf course to the Hot Springs City Council.

“They received a very nice golf course, a very playable golf course,” Wyss said Tuesday. “It’s a course they can be very proud of, but they didn’t get what they had contracted for.”

Wyss said the golf course is 25 percent to 35 percent smaller than the contract called for.

and...

Mayor Carl Oberlitner said he was surprised at learning that so much of the course was downsized.

Oberlitner said no one from the city inspected the addition as it was being built. “As far as I was concerned, it was a private project to be turned over to the city. I almost felt like I was trespassing if I went out there,” he said.

The mayor said the city did not conduct a formal evaluation of the course when Simunek turned it over to the city in 2005.

and...

Donald Patitz, a council member who has criticized Oberlitner and the handling of the land swap, said he was not surprised by the Wyss report.
Read all of this article here. And something tells me that we haven't heard the end of things on all this mess.

Comments

Anonymous said…
Just think Hot Springs WAS the place were South Dakota's well-to-do went to vacation back in the day.
9:29 AM
Anonymous said…
From what I've heard, this is a classic tale of jealousy by some folks in Hot Springs.

Steve Simunek has almost single-handedly revitalized Hot Springs, and made a few dollars along the way. As is always the case, there's a certain faction of the population that automatically hate people who have money.

There's also the typical group of old-timers that don't like the fact that their town is growing.. It's not like it "used to be" in their minds anymore. Apparently they haven't noticed their property value skyrocketing in the meanwhile.
10:25 AM
Anonymous said…
As a former golf course superintendent I would have to say that Simunek built a very nice course. Whether or not it lives up to an audit is another story. But don't shy away from going to play golf there. On the back 9 there are a couple holes that you will never forget, bring you camera!
3:41 PM
Post a Comment

Popular posts from this blog

A note from Benedict Ar... Sorry. A note from Stan Adelstein why he thinks you should vote Democrat this year.

By -
Image
(Click on letter to enlarge) And while it may not be printed at taxpayer expense, I don't see a disclaimer, either. When they hold the special session (supposedly at the end of November) , since he's left them already, I think his colleagues should expel him from the caucus. Sure. At that point it's only going to be symbolic. But since he's already said he's running again in the near future, sometimes symbolism is enough.
Read more

Corson County information on Klaudt Rape Charges

By -
Here's some of the information on the Corson County Charges: COUNT I That on or about December of 2005, in the County of Corson, State of South Dakota, Ted Alvin Klaudt did commit the public offense of SECOND DEGREE RAPE (SDCL 22-22-1(2)) in that he did accomplish an act of sexual penetration with his foster daughter, A.M., through the use of force or coercion; and as to COUNT II That on or about July or August of 2006, in the County of Corson, State of South Dakota, Ted Alvin Klaudt did commit the public offense of SECOND DEGREE RAPE (SDCL 22-22-1(2)) in that he did accomplish an act of sexual penetration with his foster daughter, A.M., through the use of force or coercion; and as to COUNT III That on or about July or August of 2006, in the County of Corson, State of South Dakota, Ted Alvin Klaudt did commit the public offense of SECOND DEGREE RAPE (SDCL 22-22-1(2)) in that he did accomplish an act of sexual penetration, separate and distinct from the act alleged in Count II, with...
Read more

It's about health, not potential promiscuity.

By -
As the only South Dakota blogger out with 5 daughters, I feel I need to weigh in on the whole discussion that's occurring with regards to the HPV vaccine, and Governor Rounds' proposal to make it available. My family (including my three oldest girls) watched my mom, their grandmother, succumb slowly and painfully to cancer which spread throughout her body. If a similar fate from a different type of cancer was preventable through a simple shot, why wouldn't anyone advocate for it? At the age most of my kids are going to be getting it, they're still playing with barbies, and negative influences such as most of the programming on MTV, and other assorted trashy television is verboten in my house. All they're going to know about this vaccination is that it's a shot, just like for teatnus or measles. They'll go "Ow, I don't want a shot," and that will be it. Just another mark on their vaccination record. One check box for DPT, one for HPV, and so on...
Read more