Minutes of Regular Meeting of Southern Black Hills Water System Board
Crazy Horse Monument
Thursday, February 26, 2026
The Regular Meeting of the Board of Directors of the Southern Black Hills Water System was held at the Crazy Horse Monument on Thursday, February 26, 2026.
Chairman Wick called the meeting to order at approximately 1:00 p.m.
ROLL CALL – Board Members present were Wick, Baird, Kowalski, Krump, Nase, and Zolnowsky; Baker and Smith were absent; Beard has resigned from the board having been a trustee since incorporation 21 years ago. Others in attendance were manager Don Peterson.
AGENDA – Motion by Krump, 2nd by Kowalski to approve the agenda; motion passed unanimously.
MINUTES - Motion by Baird, 2nd by Nase to approve the minutes of the January 22, 2026 meeting. Motion passed unanimously.
TREASURER’S REPORT – Peterson presented the treasurer’s report for January 2026. The report was reviewed by the board members. The check sequence ending January 31 was check #4853 and beginning February 1 was check #4854. Motion by Nase, 2nd by Zolnowsky to approve the treasurer’s report and transfer $15,000 from the regular checking into the RD account; motion passed unanimously.
OLD BUSINESS –
Managers’ Report
The December monthly water usage report included evidence of a significant leak in the Phase 1 line. Management received a call reporting a leak found along Argyle Rd not far west of Hwy 385 on January 22. The leak was at a section of pipe bored under a driveway installed without a sleeve. Extraction of the broken pipe required removal of the overburden rock and replacement required further rock removal to form an adequate trench to allow proper alignment and installation of the new pipe. This extra work forced a four-day service reduction, mitigated by hauling water around the leak and customer cooperation via conservation. Some customers inquired about reduced fees due to the outage, but the consensus of the board was that like other utilities SBHWS does not reduce the membership fee during service outages; there was no motion or vote on this topic as there is no change required for policy or procedure. Since communication with affected customers was difficult or impossible for those who had not signed up for the IRIS notification, the board determined that going forward, providing contact information for outage notification would be required for all customers; the next mailing will notify customers of this requirement and provide postage-paid envelopes to mail back the notification forms.
The 2025 water quality report for Phases 1, 2, & 4 has been received from the Department of Agriculture and Natural Resources, and will be posted online
A problem at the Spring Creek Acres pump station required pulling of the pump and steel drop pipe. Corrosion had resulted in holes in the 1000ft drop pipe so it needed to be replaced. Since the main line from Paramount Point cannot yet be configured to fill the storage at SCA, service there had a one-day outage while the replacement pipe was being obtained. There is a plan to install two new values so that Paramount Point can fill the SCA storage directly.
A user in the Cobblestone area observed a new wet spot, possibly a leak, near the water main. Investigation, including excavation around the water main, did not reveal the source of the wet spot but did indicate that the water main was likely not the source.
A development for 20 homes about 3 1/2 miles from the SBHWS main enquired about getting served by SBHWS; they were provided a copy of our developer policy / procedures document.
Management reported on the progress of the Paramount Point (PP) / Spring Creek Acres project. Macguire Iron, on behalf of Fuller Construction, has begun erection of the water storage tower, welding together the riser portions of the tower.
NEW BUSINESS -
EXECUTIVE SESSION -
There was no Executive Session.
UPCOMING MEETINGS -
The next meeting of the Southern Black Hills System Board will be Thursday,, March 26, 2026 at 1:00 PM at the Crazy Horse Monument in Custer. Future board meeting will be April 23.
ADJOURNMENT - There being no further business, the chair declared the meeting adjourned at 2:35.
Crazy Horse Monument
Thursday, February 26, 2026
The Regular Meeting of the Board of Directors of the Southern Black Hills Water System was held at the Crazy Horse Monument on Thursday, February 26, 2026.
Chairman Wick called the meeting to order at approximately 1:00 p.m.
ROLL CALL – Board Members present were Wick, Baird, Kowalski, Krump, Nase, and Zolnowsky; Baker and Smith were absent; Beard has resigned from the board having been a trustee since incorporation 21 years ago. Others in attendance were manager Don Peterson.
AGENDA – Motion by Krump, 2nd by Kowalski to approve the agenda; motion passed unanimously.
MINUTES - Motion by Baird, 2nd by Nase to approve the minutes of the January 22, 2026 meeting. Motion passed unanimously.
TREASURER’S REPORT – Peterson presented the treasurer’s report for January 2026. The report was reviewed by the board members. The check sequence ending January 31 was check #4853 and beginning February 1 was check #4854. Motion by Nase, 2nd by Zolnowsky to approve the treasurer’s report and transfer $15,000 from the regular checking into the RD account; motion passed unanimously.
OLD BUSINESS –
Managers’ Report
The December monthly water usage report included evidence of a significant leak in the Phase 1 line. Management received a call reporting a leak found along Argyle Rd not far west of Hwy 385 on January 22. The leak was at a section of pipe bored under a driveway installed without a sleeve. Extraction of the broken pipe required removal of the overburden rock and replacement required further rock removal to form an adequate trench to allow proper alignment and installation of the new pipe. This extra work forced a four-day service reduction, mitigated by hauling water around the leak and customer cooperation via conservation. Some customers inquired about reduced fees due to the outage, but the consensus of the board was that like other utilities SBHWS does not reduce the membership fee during service outages; there was no motion or vote on this topic as there is no change required for policy or procedure. Since communication with affected customers was difficult or impossible for those who had not signed up for the IRIS notification, the board determined that going forward, providing contact information for outage notification would be required for all customers; the next mailing will notify customers of this requirement and provide postage-paid envelopes to mail back the notification forms.
The 2025 water quality report for Phases 1, 2, & 4 has been received from the Department of Agriculture and Natural Resources, and will be posted online
A problem at the Spring Creek Acres pump station required pulling of the pump and steel drop pipe. Corrosion had resulted in holes in the 1000ft drop pipe so it needed to be replaced. Since the main line from Paramount Point cannot yet be configured to fill the storage at SCA, service there had a one-day outage while the replacement pipe was being obtained. There is a plan to install two new values so that Paramount Point can fill the SCA storage directly.
A user in the Cobblestone area observed a new wet spot, possibly a leak, near the water main. Investigation, including excavation around the water main, did not reveal the source of the wet spot but did indicate that the water main was likely not the source.
A development for 20 homes about 3 1/2 miles from the SBHWS main enquired about getting served by SBHWS; they were provided a copy of our developer policy / procedures document.
Management reported on the progress of the Paramount Point (PP) / Spring Creek Acres project. Macguire Iron, on behalf of Fuller Construction, has begun erection of the water storage tower, welding together the riser portions of the tower.
NEW BUSINESS -
EXECUTIVE SESSION -
There was no Executive Session.
UPCOMING MEETINGS -
The next meeting of the Southern Black Hills System Board will be Thursday,, March 26, 2026 at 1:00 PM at the Crazy Horse Monument in Custer. Future board meeting will be April 23.
ADJOURNMENT - There being no further business, the chair declared the meeting adjourned at 2:35.
