Just for you....a first look at Spring

City Council approves the bid for the development of the Industrial Park infrastructure

On March 24, 2022 city opened bids for Industrial Park Infrastructure. Bids were received from one bidder Underground Construction, LLC. Total base bid was $2,487,493.05

Since the bid was a million dollars higher than budgeted, additional discussion took place between the Contractor, Engineer, Wall Economic Development and City Staff to negotiate a lower price. Based on those discussions certain portions of the project were determined to be not necessary or could be performed by City staff or reduced in scope.

On March 31^st at the special council meeting, council approved negotiating Bid of $1,432,720.15 to complete the project.

Stompin’ Grounds Grand Opening

New businesses are vital to our town’s economy, and what better way to welcome them to our community than with ribbon cutting ceremony.

On Friday, February 25, 2022 Stompin’ Grounds celebrated its official Grand Opening and hosted a ribbon-cutting ceremony. Located on the corner of the Main Street and South Blvd. a super convenient place to get your daily caffeine fix.

Addressing Housing Need

City MOU with Echo Valley: Housing is an often-discussed topic in the Wall community. Housing, and the lack of available housing, affect seasonal employees, year-round employees, current residents, and new residents. To start solving Wall’s housing problems, the Wall City Council signed a memorandum of understanding with the Echo Valley LLC properties with the intention to develop lots for residential development that include water and sewer to each lot in phase 1 and road development in Phase 2&3

Housing Study: Wall Economic Development received $2,500 from South Dakota Housing Development Authority to update a housing needs study. The Wall Economic Development will provide the additional $3,750 of matching funds. Study will begin in early May.

The study will address projected economic, employment and population change throughout the next two to 15 years. It will make recommendations for short-to-mid-term housing demand, long-term housing demand, new construction, rehab, senior housing, family housing, rental and homeownership. The study will provide a platform based on solid research that WEDC can use to approach the necessary resources and discuss the best plan to address Wall's housing needs. 

Revision of Demolition Agreement: On March 17 City Council revised a housing incentive - demolition agreement.

The City of Wall decided to reimburse the demolition cost of the structure up to two dollars per square footage. The reimbursement will be paid out to the landowner once the structure has been replaced with another residential building and must be completed within two years of the agreement.

Empowering Future Leaders

Having a greater understanding of how the lifeblood of a community flows really helps to create community for the people who live in it, the folks we serve.

On March 28 Wall Economic Development celebrated the graduation of Wall Leadership 2022

The objective of the class was to develop leadership potential existing in our community in order to continue to provide civic organizations in the Wall area with quality civic leaders.

During this program participants had an opportunity to learn about: 

• How to set a stage for a successful journey from Lori Cope
• Director duties, roles and responsibilities from CEO of GWTC Denny Law and CEO of WREA Dick Johnson;
• Law Enforcement, Fire and Ambulance emergency services from Sergeant Randy Harkins, fire chief Jim Kitterman and Ambulance Board Treasurer Carrie Shell;
• Agritourism and Wall Ag businesses from Agritourism HUB Coach Trevor Williams, Wall Meat Processing owners Janet Niehaus and Ken Charfauros, and Jerry Cope and Jerry Morgan from Dakota Mill & Grain.
• Customer Service and Community Connections from Community Vitality Field Specialist Peggy Schlechter
• Government and Economic Development from former mayor Marty Huether and Executive Director of Wall Economic Development Liliya Stone.

13 individuals completed Leadership Class 2022: Solomon Stone, Meghan Patterson, CJ Tice, Kendall Tice, Linda Hiltner, Wendy Allison, Timmy Grimmet, Kaylynn Grimmet, Emma Michael, Kyle Barber, Garrett Shearer, Kailech Kier and Hope Dennis.

Building a better Wall starts with YOU!

For two years Black Hills Local Governments has been working on the comprehensive plan study for Wall.

A Comprehensive Plan or “Comp” Plan is a planning document that provides guidance for the future growth and development of a city. Based on community input, a comprehensive plan establishes a collective vision for the future of the community and sets goals and objectives to help achieve that vision.

By updating its Comprehensive Plan, the City of Wall can base its future decision-making to better reflect the needs and wants of the community and develop new programs, services, and regulations accordingly.

An open house is scheduled for Monday, April 18, 2022 for the public to learn and provide input about the draft comprehensive plan.

To learn more visit www.wallsdplan.com

Mailbox project

We would like to invite any business, organization or individual to participate in our  “Mailbox Project.”

The Wall Economic Development has purchased mailboxes to decorate for each of the 22 graduating seniors. We will write their name and Wall, SD on each of the mailboxes. We also plan to write them a letter encouraging them to come back to Wall. Working from a business point of view, we want to encourage them to come back and either start a business or be involved in our current Wall businesses. 

We would love to have you as a part of this project. Would you be interested in making a small gesture for our graduates? You can donate an item, write a letter, reach out to a specific senior that you would like to encourage to come into your business, or anything you would like to include.  

The idea of the project is to encourage our young people not to forget that their ideas or dreams are never too small. They can get a great start right here in their hometown.  We hope you will join us in celebrating our young people! 

Please, contact Wall Economic Development office at 605-279-2658 or walledd@gwtc.net

Internship

Internships play a crucial role in shaping one’s career. It not only helps undergraduates and graduates gain real exposure to working environments but also helps them develop the necessary skills required to stand out in a saturated job market.

Youth internship programs are available through the Wall School District to students who wish to take an internship. This year Kellyn Sherer chose to do an internship with Wall Economic Development.

“I chose this because I was curious to see what happens inside the Wall  community. I couldn’t think of a better person to help the community other than Liliya Stone. I have been her intern since September. Over the months I have learned to be confident in things I believe in; Liliya has pushed me to be a not-so-shy person anymore and is continuing to push me out of my comfort zone and try new things. My future plans are to attend Chadron State College in the coming fall. I plan to get a degree in Physical Therapy, I chose this pathway because being a manager for the girls sports teams has sparked my interest”-said Kellyn.

Employment Opportunity