Posted on June 5, 2024
Turnout in the election was estimated at 45% among city voters, Mitchell Finance Officer Michelle Bathke said on Tuesday.
MITCHELL — In one of the closest votes in city history, Mitchell voters narrowly supported a ballot question on Tuesday to support $25 million plan for dredging Lake Mitchell and working on lake improvements.
Unofficial results indicated that the Yes side of the ballot question to approve $16.8 million in revenue bonds to fund the overall project. The Yes side received 2,177 votes (50.3%), while No was 2,147 (49.7%), a margin of 30 votes.
Turnout in the election was estimated at 45% among city voters, Mitchell Finance Officer Michelle Bathke said on Tuesday.
The entire project will cost the city $25 million. Over 30 years at 3.75% interest, the total cost is $36.4 million. The city has also proposed an annual maintenance budget of $500,000 per year for the lake in the future.
The city of Mitchell has more than $8 million set aside for the project and will finance the rest through a State Revolving Loan fund over 30 years with the South Dakota Department of Agriculture and Natural Resources.
According to a city timeline, the lake water levels will be lowered later in 2024 and dredging is set to take place throughout 2025, expecting the lake to be dry for up to two years. Sediment is to be placed at Firesteel Park near the lake in 2025 and 2026, with the lake being refilled and the new lake being managed in 2027 and beyond.
An aerial view of Lake Mitchell pictured on Saturday, May 11, 2024, in Mitchell.
In July 2023, the Mitchell City Council set a June 2024 ballot question election date on the project. That came after city council members were split 4-4 on whether to approve a state loan funding plan for the project.
The dredging plan was crafted by outgoing Mayor Bob Everson, who vouched that the lake project could be funded without an increase to taxes in the city.
“It’s awesome,” Everson said after Tuesday’s result. “When I took office in 2018, I set out to restore our lake and develop the best plan that involves the entire lake and watershed as an ecosystem. We’ve worked with experienced and skilled professional engineers to come up with a plan that will be effective at improving the water quality, and kudos to the voters for seeing that.”
The project also picked up support from lake-minded residents of the city, including the Friends of Firesteel group, which helped form a “Save Lake Mitchell” campaign of signage, websites and social media pages. Leaders of the Friends of Firesteel group were not available for comment on Tuesday night after the unofficial results were announced.
A robust campaign that supported the lake dredging formed around the issue. Advocates for the dredging plan said that the plan on the table was the most cost-effective option for improving the lake, and noted that half of Lake Mitchell’s phosphorus problems are in the sediment.
“The plan to dredge didn’t just pop up out of nowhere,” the Save Lake Mitchell group wrote recently on social media. “The city of Mitchell and other groups have been working on it for years, testing various ideas with experts. After all that effort, we’ve found the best solution for our budget.”
Black and yellow “Vote no to dredging” Lake Mitchell signage was also prevalent around the city, as opponents were concerned about the cost and the potential that dredging might not solve the 96-year-old lake’s phosphorus problems.
It marks the second consecutive year that Mitchell voters have approved a ballot question at the polls to support Lake Mitchell restoration projects. More than 56% of voters approved a measure in 2023 to sell designated parkland at Lake Mitchell to help fund water-quality improvements to the city’s maligned municipal lake.
The city of Mitchell has more than $8 million set aside for the project and will finance the rest through a State Revolving Loan fund over 30 years with the South Dakota Department of Agriculture and Natural Resources.
According to a city timeline, the lake water levels will be lowered later in 2024 and dredging is set to take place throughout 2025, expecting the lake to be dry for up to two years. Sediment is to be placed at Firesteel Park near the lake in 2025 and 2026, with the lake being refilled and the new lake being managed in 2027 and beyond.
Regardless of the results of Tuesday’s vote, some lake projects were already in the works. The Mitchell City Council has already approved $3.5 million to go toward a new lake drawdown structure next to the Lake Mitchell spillway dam to control water levels for the wetland along Firesteel Creek and a potential future dredging project. The city also has a 35-acre wetland project that is set to begin this year, as well.
