11-03-2025
Marshall Mitchell: Mitchell Ridgeview on Foster development streets to be turned over to city
Mar. 10—MITCHELL — Who owns the streets after a developer builds them?
The Mitchell City Council, during their regular meeting on March 3, approved an agreement with non-profit Mitchell Area Housing Inc. (MAHI), at no cost to the city, to provide up-to-standard street improvements for the right-of-way at the Ridgeview on Foster housing development.
The 22-acre Ridgeview on Foster housing development runs west to east from Foster Street to North Calhoun Street, and north to south from East Eighth Avenue to Bridle Drive. About 4.35 acres, or nearly 20% of the development, is made of right-of-way streets to be given to the city and include Nagle Lane, Peace Place and Nursia Drive.
The agreement calls for MAHI to improve the right-of-way for residential purposes and to grade and surface all roads and streets, and provide a complete sewerage system throughout the entire subdivision before residents can occupy the houses, which are still under development.
In addition to the city receiving the right-of-ways, the agreement calls for MAHI to reimburse the city for upgrading the Ridgeview on Foster sewage lift station from a submersible lift station to a dry well/wet well lift station. The total cost of the lift station was $345,000, according to MAHI president Terry Sabers.
The city paid the up-front costs of the lift station and will be reimbursed $199,880 over time by
Tax Increment District 36, which was approved in July 2024 for the Ridgeview on Foster and South Lake Estates developments.
"A dry/wet well helps us with maintenance of the lift station, and it's safer for our crews to work in," Mitchell Public Works Director Joe Schroeder told the council on March 3.
A submersible pump has the pumps in the sewage. Work on the pumps requires a worker to pull the pumps out of the sewage on rails. If the pumps get stuck, a worker wearing a ventilator has to go in to work on it, according to Schroeder.
On the other hand, a dry/wet well has two different structures, one for the sewage, and a clean area for the pumps so they can be maintained in a dry and safe environment.
"So if you need to work on the pumps, you're in a completely separate space from the sewage," Schroeder told the Mitchell Republic.
Council member Mike Bathke questioned how the dollar figure was decided on and what the bidding process was for the life station. The city is paying the difference of the upgrade costs to have a type of lift station that meets maintenance requirements, according to City Administrator Stephanie Ellwein.
"It was bid through the grant requirements. They were required to bid it just the same as a city bid," Schroeder said.
The Ridgeview development project received a $1.026 million infrastructure funding grant from the South Dakota Housing Authority,
which administers a mix of state and federal funds.
Bathke asked if Nagle Lane to Foster Street would be part of the Ridgeview Phase I plan.
"I believe it is being installed all the way to Foster right away as phase one. It's my understanding that it is to be built out 100% this spring. I believe all the utilities are in for the entire project," Schroeder said.
The city has a one-year warranty from the development's completion, and if defects are found, the contractor has to come back and fix the city's right-of-way.
"If there's any settlement, if there were to be any water leaks, those types of issues usually pop up within the first year. There are South Dakota statutes that protect us further," Schroeder told the Mitchell Republic.
In 2020,
Avera Queen of Peace hospital donated the 22-acre parcel to MAHI
to build a workforce housing development.
"We are ahead of schedule and behind schedule. We got a lot of work done. The construction season was good for us. However, our lift station, which is built right here in Mitchell with Dakota Pump, is behind schedule so that's slowing us down," MAHI housing leader Mike Lauritsen told the council during the March 3 meeting.
In February 2023, $2.4 million in federal appropriations was awarded for Ridgeview on Foster. A groundbreaking ceremony was held in October 2023.
There are 68 lots in the Ridgeview on Foster housing development. Fifteen of the lots along East Eighth Avenue are set aside for Mitchell Technical College to build homes as part of their carpentry training program. The tech students finish one house a year, according to Sabers.
The 53 lots left are for workforce housing, with some framing planned by July 1.
"Our goal has always been to try to get houses in that $250,000 to $300,000 range. Hopefully, we might have some smaller ones yet that will be under $250,000," Sabers said.
In October 2023, the estimated cost of putting the street, sewer and utility infrastructure in place for the development was $3.4 million. That number is now over $4 million due to inflation, according to Sabers.
"This fall, there should be some ready to move into," Sabers said.
The 53 lots could take time to develop and for homes to be built. It just depends on the demand, according to Sabers.
"Obviously, we're not going to build houses if the demand slows down because of the economy. We'll slow down our building also, because we don't want to sit on a house that's not sold," Sabers said. "It could be somewhere between seven and 10 years."
