The Lincoln County Commissioners met Tuesday, February 25 in the Lincoln County Boardroom. With all members present, Commissioners heard agenda items including a bridge dedication to Captain Verlyn Meyer, bid awards, and presentations from department heads.
The first item of business on the regular agenda was brought by Commissioner Joel Arends requesting board action to pass a resolution of support to dedicating the Highway 44 bridge over Long Creek in the City of Lennox to the lasting memory of Captain Verlyn Gwen Meyer.
“Paul McVey is a teacher in the Lennox School District. Mr. McVey and his son have been working on a project in which they are going to nominate and recommend that a gentleman by the name of Verlyn Meyer be recommended to have a bridge named after him in Lennox,” Arends said.
McVey spoke to the Lennox City Council at their February 10 meeting on the matter. The City of Lennox passed a resolution in support of the project, and now, McVey is asking the County Commissioners to do the same.
“It’s high time that we recognize his service and the service of others and it’s high time that Lincoln County get in the game with regard to naming our first bridge after him,” Arends continued.
The resolution reads: A RESOLUTION BY THE LINCOLN COUNTY BOARD OF COUNTY COMMISSIONERS TO SUPPORT THE RENAMING OF THE HIGHWAY 44 BRIDGE OVER LONG CREEK TO THE VERYLN MEYER BRIDGE WHEREAS, SDCL Ch. 7-18 provides that the powers of a County shall be exercised by a board of county commissioners; and WHEREAS, SDCL 7-18A-2 provides that Counties have the authority to enact such resolutions as may be proper and necessary to carry into effect the powers granted to it by law; and WHEREAS, Verlyn Meyer was born near Lennox, South Dakota on September 20, 1942; and WHEREAS, Verlyn Meyer graduated from the University of South Dakota in 1964 while participating in the University’s ROTC program; and WHEREAS, Captain Meyer was assigned to the 92nd Assault Helicopter Company, 10th Aviation Battalion, 17th Aviation Group, 1st Aviation Brigade of the United States Army; and WHEREAS, Captain Meyer was the Pilot of a UH-1C gunship while supporting Task Force South; and WHEREAS, Captain Meyer’s gunship took hostile fire in Lam Dong Province in South Vietnam on August 22, 1968;
and WHEREAS, Captain Meyer and all abord the gunship were Killed in Action; and WHEREAS, Captain Meyer was awarded the following military decorations: Distinguished Flying Cross, Silver Star, Air Medal, Purple Heart, United States Aviator Badge, National Defense Service Medal, Vietnam Campaign Medal, Vietnam Service Medal, Army Presidential Unit Citation, Vietnam Gallantry Cross; and WHEREAS, Captain Meyer’s selfless sacrifice in the service of the United States of America is memorialized on the National Vietnam Veterans Memorial in Washington, D.C., and WHEREAS, the City of Lennox has passed a resolution asking the State of South Dakota to rename the bridge that crosses over Long Creek on Highway 44 in the City of Lennox, South Dakota to be named the Captain Verlyn Gwen Meyer Bridge and has asked this Commission to do the same, and WHEREAS, this would be the first bridge in Lincoln County to be renamed by the Fallen Heros Bridge Dedication Program, and NOW THEREFORE BE IT RESOLVED, by the Board of County Commissioners of Lincoln County, South Dakota, to support the naming of the bridge that crosses over Long Creek on Highway 44 in the City of Lennox, South Dakota to be named the Captain Verlyn Gwen Meyer Bridge.
Motion to approve the resolution made by Arends, seconded by Jim Schmidt. Motion carried.
Highway Superintendent, Terry Fluit was present for board action to award the bid for crushed concrete to Knife River for $10 per ton.
“There were two bidders on this, the other bid was LG Everest and they were at $11 per ton,” he said. Motion to award the bid to Knife River made by Schmidt, seconded by Arends. Motion approved with Tiffani Landeen abstaining.
Fluit also asked the board to authorize the chair to execute an agreement with the South Dakota Department of Transportation for Emergency Relief funding reimbursements due to the June 2024 floods.
“We already had an agreement in place with the state, modified section four of this agreement, clarified some language, so this is a new agreement, none of the numbers have changed for the projects,” Fluit said.
Motion by Arends, seconded by Schmidt, motion carried.
Emergency Management Coordinator, Harold Timmerman was present to give an Emergency Management Department presentation.
“I coordinate with and support Lincoln County First Responders including Fire, EMS, Law Enforcement, and the 911 Center. I have a fire and EMS background, I’ve been a firefighter for quite some time and if there is a major fire I go to help them coordinate and bring in outside resources they may need,” Timmerman said.
Timmerman is also in charge of flying the county drone, developing relationships with surrounding counties and their officials, and applies for grants that cover various positions including part of his own salary. Timmerman is hoping for a quiet 2025 but is prepared for what may come.
“We hope 2025 bring normal operations and no disasters. I’ve lost track of how many we’ve had since I’ve been the Emergency Manager, especially after years where we have three in just a year and a half. We’ve done all of that here, and we just soon have thing go along at a normal pace,” Timmerman added.
Timmerman does plan to achieve full implementation of the regroup notification system this year.
“This is a system that would have the capability to notify everybody in Lincoln County or a certain group or area. This program looks to be the best one we’ve found, and it uses the public available phone records, so nobody has to subscribe,” he said. The board thanked Harold for his presentation.
Building Superintendent, John Rombough gave a presentation on the Buildings and Grounds Department.
“The Lincoln County Buildings and Grounds Department is an eight-person department responsible for the building and grounds maintenance of all county owned property. The department works collaboratively with the Highway Superintendent and the Marv Skie Airport manager to conduct maintenance and share responsibilities for task completion as well as at the 4-H Event Center for site maintenance and set up,” he said.
The group takes care of the five main county owned sites, Lincoln County Courthouse and Admin Building, Lincoln County Equipment Storage, Lincoln County Highway Maintenance Site, Lincoln County Fairgrounds and Event Center Site, and Lincoln County Marv Skie Airport Site. Rombough has high expectations for 2025.
“In 2025 we have the LED lighting project, to upgrade the lights to LED fixtures, as this is a project that we’ve been given grant funding for 80 to 90 per cent of the project,” he said.
A PA system updated for the phone system in the courthouse and a courthouse annex project are all on the books for 2025. The Board thanked John for his presentation.