• City set to buy Riverline District property. City Councilors gave the green light for the city to purchase a little more than seven acres of land just east of downtown as the site for a new convention center – if voters approve it.
  • Why it matters: The land purchase was $8 million, money that has already been set aside in the budget for next year. Before the council vote, the Riverline Steering Committee worked to add a few updates to the contract – including extending the amount of time the city has to break ground on a project.
  • Worth noting: The contract does not require a convention center to be built, but instead an "anchor facility" with surrounding mixed-use facilities aimed at "providing significant economic impacts," according to Mike Gray with the Sioux Falls Development Foundation.
    • Additionally, if the city doesn't build on the land by 2030, the seller, State Partners, LLC, can buy the land back for $8 million.
  • What next? The steering committee will next figure out a more solid vision for the property, as well as determine a timeline for a public vote on whether it should be a convention center. More on the project history here.
• 'Vicious animal' definition gets an update. Sioux Falls City Councilors voted on Tuesday to update the city ordinance related to what it takes to declare an animal vicious. Patty Beckman, Animal Control Supervisor with the Sioux Falls Police Department, said the city has seen situations where an animal caused serious harm, but was still allowed to live and return to its owner.
  • Beckman shared the example of children who were bitten in the face and had severe injuries. In those instances, now, the police department will be able to declare the dog vicious and have it humanely euthanized (unless the owner appeals the "vicious" declaration successfully.)
  • Councilor Curt Soehl shared during Tuesday's meeting that this issue hits close to home for him because when his son was 2 years old, he was attacked by a dog and still has scars to this day.
  • "We're not looking to euthanize more animals – just to make it a bit easier (to declare a dog vicious) for situations that are more severe," Beckman said.

More Super Simplified Stories

• Catch and release kitties. Councilors also approved an ordinance that would allow people and organizations approved by the Sioux Falls Area Humane Society to trap, sterilize, vaccinate, eartip, microchip and return a feral cat. Councilor Ryan Spellerberg noted this change gets Sioux Falls' rules in line with what's already allowed statewide.
• On ice. The City Council voted Tuesday to approve a liquor license for Jacobson Plaza – the new park/ice ribbon/warming house going up between the Levitt and the Falls. Food and beverage services will be managed by Washington Pavilion Management, Inc.
• Taxidermy talks. The city work group focused on figuring out the future of the Delbridge Collection of taxidermy animals is meeting this morning to look at six different nonprofits who've expressed interest in taking on the collection. More to come on that in Friday's issue.