Minutes of Regular Meeting of Southern Black Hills Water System Board (Provisional)
Crazy Horse Monument
Thursday, July 23, 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, July 23, 2026.
Chairman Wick called the meeting to order at approximately 1:00 p.m.
ROLL CALL – Board Members present were Wick, Baird, Fillinger, Kowalski, Krump, Nase, and Zolnowsky; Smith was absent. Others in attendance were manager Don Peterson, counsel Talbot Wieczorek, Kristin Conzet and Jim Jones from Western Dakota Regional Water System, and observer/user Tim Donner.
AGENDA – Motion by Krump, 2nd by Nase to approve the agenda; motion passed unanimously.
MINUTES - Motion by Baird, 2nd by Kowalski to approve the minutes of the June 25, 2026 meeting. Motion passed unanimously.
GUEST PRESENTATION - WDRWS had requested the opportunity to meet with the SBHWS board.
Conzet’s presentation covered the history of the project, stressing the need for additional water resources in the Black Hills area to cover projected shortfalls in water sources over the next few decades. She explained that the effort is now focused on getting US Congressional authorization for a full Bureau of Reclamation feasibility study, and emphasized the importance of WDRWS member support in getting that authorization.
Prior plans from WDRSW had proposed that their service line to Edgemont would come up Fall River canyon along Hwy 18, past Hot Springs, out to Minnekahta Jct, and then south to Edgemont. SBHWS had responded that routing south from Hot Springs along Hwy 71 and west along Indian Canyon Rd would allow SBHWS to service the higher density demand along Hwy 71. Jones provided an analysis of such a routing, noting that route had higher costs but promoted better regionalization, providing the opportunity to link together multiple water systems in Fall River county. He suggested that while WDRWS would retain ownership and financial responsibility for the connecting line, they would prefer to contract with SBHWS to operate and manage connections to that line. Both Jones and Conzet said that the alternate provided a good demonstration of the value of WDRWS, being both valuable in its own right and able to be implemented ahead of the main transmission line from Lake Oahe to the Black Hills.
TREASURER’S REPORT – Peterson presented the treasurer’s report for June 2026. The report was reviewed by the board members. The check sequence ending June 30 was check #4962 and beginning July 1 was check #4963. Fuller Construction has submitted claims for partial work completion, requesting payment of $250,029. Motion by Baird, 2nd by Fillinger to approve the treasurer’s report, transfer $15,000 from the regular checking account into the RD savings account, and authorize payment of the $250,029; motion passed unanimously.
OLD BUSINESS –
Managers’ Report
The latest water usage report indicates that water losses in the system are no longer an open issue.
The Paramount Point / Spring Creek Acres project is nearing completion. Fuller Construction is working on electrical connections for the lighting and the SCADA system. Since the power requirements at the tower are so low, the plan is to purchase a 16Kw generator for tower backup. The taps requested in purchase of easements for the service line are being installed by Dakota Ludwig, using staff time rather than contract help to cover that aspect. The near completion of the Paramount Point / Spring Creek Acres project has led to three new requests for service along Hwy 79.
Since SBHWS now has grown to 500 user accounts, we now are required to meet state requirements for fluoride levels in delivered water: 0.5 to 0.9 mg/L(=ppm). The Paramount Point water report indicates a fluoride level of 0.6 ppm; the most recent test of the Phase 1, 2, & 4 water source indicates a level of 0.34 ppm. The South Dakota Drinking Water Application Manual provides a waiver process for drinking water fluoride level, so management will investigate whether we can waive the fluoride requirement.
Management has scheduled the annual members meeting to be September 15, 6:30 at the Pringle Community Center.
NEW BUSINESS -
Since the Board had previously determined that new connections to the Paramount Point / Spring Creek Acres project will be required to pay the full base fee, we need to settle on a governance model so they can be represented on the Board. Wieczorek led a discussion of possible zone models for representatives, and noted the following points:
There was no Executive Session.
UPCOMING MEETINGS -
The next meeting of the Southern Black Hills System Board will be Thursday,, August 27, 2026 at 1:00 PM at the Crazy Horse Monument in Custer. Future board meetings will be September 24 and October 20 (on a Tuesday due to board member meeting conflict). The annual members meeting will be held September 15, 6:30 at the Pringle Community Center
ADJOURNMENT - There being no further business, the chair declared the meeting adjourned at 2:53.
Crazy Horse Monument
Thursday, July 23, 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, July 23, 2026.
Chairman Wick called the meeting to order at approximately 1:00 p.m.
ROLL CALL – Board Members present were Wick, Baird, Fillinger, Kowalski, Krump, Nase, and Zolnowsky; Smith was absent. Others in attendance were manager Don Peterson, counsel Talbot Wieczorek, Kristin Conzet and Jim Jones from Western Dakota Regional Water System, and observer/user Tim Donner.
AGENDA – Motion by Krump, 2nd by Nase to approve the agenda; motion passed unanimously.
MINUTES - Motion by Baird, 2nd by Kowalski to approve the minutes of the June 25, 2026 meeting. Motion passed unanimously.
GUEST PRESENTATION - WDRWS had requested the opportunity to meet with the SBHWS board.
Conzet’s presentation covered the history of the project, stressing the need for additional water resources in the Black Hills area to cover projected shortfalls in water sources over the next few decades. She explained that the effort is now focused on getting US Congressional authorization for a full Bureau of Reclamation feasibility study, and emphasized the importance of WDRWS member support in getting that authorization.
Prior plans from WDRSW had proposed that their service line to Edgemont would come up Fall River canyon along Hwy 18, past Hot Springs, out to Minnekahta Jct, and then south to Edgemont. SBHWS had responded that routing south from Hot Springs along Hwy 71 and west along Indian Canyon Rd would allow SBHWS to service the higher density demand along Hwy 71. Jones provided an analysis of such a routing, noting that route had higher costs but promoted better regionalization, providing the opportunity to link together multiple water systems in Fall River county. He suggested that while WDRWS would retain ownership and financial responsibility for the connecting line, they would prefer to contract with SBHWS to operate and manage connections to that line. Both Jones and Conzet said that the alternate provided a good demonstration of the value of WDRWS, being both valuable in its own right and able to be implemented ahead of the main transmission line from Lake Oahe to the Black Hills.
TREASURER’S REPORT – Peterson presented the treasurer’s report for June 2026. The report was reviewed by the board members. The check sequence ending June 30 was check #4962 and beginning July 1 was check #4963. Fuller Construction has submitted claims for partial work completion, requesting payment of $250,029. Motion by Baird, 2nd by Fillinger to approve the treasurer’s report, transfer $15,000 from the regular checking account into the RD savings account, and authorize payment of the $250,029; motion passed unanimously.
OLD BUSINESS –
Managers’ Report
The latest water usage report indicates that water losses in the system are no longer an open issue.
The Paramount Point / Spring Creek Acres project is nearing completion. Fuller Construction is working on electrical connections for the lighting and the SCADA system. Since the power requirements at the tower are so low, the plan is to purchase a 16Kw generator for tower backup. The taps requested in purchase of easements for the service line are being installed by Dakota Ludwig, using staff time rather than contract help to cover that aspect. The near completion of the Paramount Point / Spring Creek Acres project has led to three new requests for service along Hwy 79.
Since SBHWS now has grown to 500 user accounts, we now are required to meet state requirements for fluoride levels in delivered water: 0.5 to 0.9 mg/L(=ppm). The Paramount Point water report indicates a fluoride level of 0.6 ppm; the most recent test of the Phase 1, 2, & 4 water source indicates a level of 0.34 ppm. The South Dakota Drinking Water Application Manual provides a waiver process for drinking water fluoride level, so management will investigate whether we can waive the fluoride requirement.
Management has scheduled the annual members meeting to be September 15, 6:30 at the Pringle Community Center.
NEW BUSINESS -
Since the Board had previously determined that new connections to the Paramount Point / Spring Creek Acres project will be required to pay the full base fee, we need to settle on a governance model so they can be represented on the Board. Wieczorek led a discussion of possible zone models for representatives, and noted the following points:
- Zones would be defined geographically, containing roughly the same number of members but it is not realistic to make this a strong requirement. Reconfiguration of the zone definitions will be necessary as the system expands. Simple geographic boundaries would be preferable.
- Zones should be sized so that they would be represented by more than one board member, both so that members have multiple board members to represent their concerns and to increase the pool of representatives to assure representation on the board.
- While future growth of the system may make it necessary to increase the number of board members, delaying that until necessary allows the board to remain efficient; he suggested our initial model might be six elected users and three appointed to represent future growth areas.
- For now, we should appoint a system user from the Paramount Point, Rushmore Ranch, or Spring Creek Acres areas while we work on a definitive governance model.
There was no Executive Session.
UPCOMING MEETINGS -
The next meeting of the Southern Black Hills System Board will be Thursday,, August 27, 2026 at 1:00 PM at the Crazy Horse Monument in Custer. Future board meetings will be September 24 and October 20 (on a Tuesday due to board member meeting conflict). The annual members meeting will be held September 15, 6:30 at the Pringle Community Center
ADJOURNMENT - There being no further business, the chair declared the meeting adjourned at 2:53.
