Minutes of the Annual Meeting Southern Black Hills Water System Board (Provisional)
Pringle Community Hall, Pringle, South Dakota
Tuesday, September 15, 2026
The Annual Meeting of the Southern Black Hills Water System was held at the Pringle Community Hall, Pringle, South Dakota on Tuesday, September 15, 2026.
Chairman Ted Wick called the meeting to order at approximately 6:30 p.m.
ROLL CALL - Attending were 5 board members who are system users, present were an additional 6 members and 55 other members were represented by proxy. That is sufficient for a quorum.
MINUTES - Motion by Bob Baird and 2nd by Penny Svenkeson to approve the minutes of last year’s meeting held on October 2, 2025. Motion passed unanimously.
ELECTION - This year there was two open elected member seats for the board in 2027-2029. Only two petitions were taken out and returned, by Aaron Carr and John Zolnowsky. Legal counsel Talbot Wieczorek verified that the petitions bore sufficient valid signatures. Carr and Zolnowsky will start their three year term in January.
Auditors Report - Jordan Jones from Ketel-Thorstenson presented the 2025 Financial Summary-Modified Cash Basis and a single audit covering the use of federal funds in the Paramount Point/Spring Creek Acres project; both audits were clean. He answered questions from the Board of Directors and from individuals attending the meeting.
Managers’ Report
System Manager Don Peterson presented the Manager report.
Water Rates
The board has set water service base rates for 2027 to be same as those projected in the Projected Rate Schedule report: 3% increases for Phase 1 and Phase 2 residential customers, with 5% or 6.5% increases for other customer areas. Water usage rates remain unchanged.
Members Comments
Pringle Community Hall, Pringle, South Dakota
Tuesday, September 15, 2026
The Annual Meeting of the Southern Black Hills Water System was held at the Pringle Community Hall, Pringle, South Dakota on Tuesday, September 15, 2026.
Chairman Ted Wick called the meeting to order at approximately 6:30 p.m.
ROLL CALL - Attending were 5 board members who are system users, present were an additional 6 members and 55 other members were represented by proxy. That is sufficient for a quorum.
MINUTES - Motion by Bob Baird and 2nd by Penny Svenkeson to approve the minutes of last year’s meeting held on October 2, 2025. Motion passed unanimously.
ELECTION - This year there was two open elected member seats for the board in 2027-2029. Only two petitions were taken out and returned, by Aaron Carr and John Zolnowsky. Legal counsel Talbot Wieczorek verified that the petitions bore sufficient valid signatures. Carr and Zolnowsky will start their three year term in January.
Auditors Report - Jordan Jones from Ketel-Thorstenson presented the 2025 Financial Summary-Modified Cash Basis and a single audit covering the use of federal funds in the Paramount Point/Spring Creek Acres project; both audits were clean. He answered questions from the Board of Directors and from individuals attending the meeting.
Managers’ Report
System Manager Don Peterson presented the Manager report.
- Referring to a recent press release from South Dakota senator Mike Round’s office, Peterson noted than delays in mail delivery can result in late charges being applied when payments arrive late. He urged customers to take advantage of Direct Pay to avoid such unpredictable delays; the application form for direct pay can be found on the southernblackhills.com website.
- A January 2026 main break along Argyle Rd led to a three day service interruption before the break cculd be fixed. SBHWS thanks customers in the Phase 2 service area (roughly along Hwy 89 and westward) for conserving water while repairs were being made.
- Peterson reminded members that forms for customer notification of water service issues via the IRIS notification system were available at the meeting and and can found on the southernblackhills.com website. The IRIS system is our only feasible means to contact customers who want to be notified of service issues.
- SBHWS total water sales from January through July of 2026 was 17,028,600 gallons compared with 20,141,600 gallons from January through August of 2025.
- SBHWS continues its membership in the Western Dakota Regional Water System, which is an effort to bring Missouri River water to Black Hills communities to address future demands for water. SBHWS has been and will continue to be involved in planning activities with WDRWS, which includes considerations of a water line south of Hot Springs down Hwy 71 to Indian Canyon Rd to serve Edgemont and connecting to other water systems in Fall River county.
- The Department of Agriculture and Natural Resources has notified SBHWS that with growth to over 500 customer, SBHWS must now meet minimum fluoride levels in our drinking water. Our annual water survey has been about 0.4 parts / million, while the state of South Dakota requires a minimum of 0.5 parts / million. SBHWS is taking steps to treat our source water to assure it matches the required fluoride minimum.
- The Paramount Point / Spring Creek Acres project is nearing completion in all aspects. Kale McNaboe described how the project consisted of three parts: A, a new pump station at Paramount capable of serving water to Paramount Point and pushing water to B, five miles of water main along Hwy 79 and east to Spring Creek Acres and connecting to C, a 250,000 gallon water tower. The water tower is the item to be completed and will begin filling this week.
Water Rates
The board has set water service base rates for 2027 to be same as those projected in the Projected Rate Schedule report: 3% increases for Phase 1 and Phase 2 residential customers, with 5% or 6.5% increases for other customer areas. Water usage rates remain unchanged.
Members Comments
- A customer inquired why the base fee was so high. The answer is historical: SBHWS lost a large grant due to delays in getting approval to cross US Forest Service land and subsequently was forced to use loans to build out the project; the high base rate reflects the loan repayment.
- One member expressed his strong satisfaction with SBHWS service.
