NOTE: SOME FIGURES IN THIS STORY WERE CORRECTED AS OF WEDNESDAY AFTERNOON
A discussion of the city’s share of paying for county law enforcement and drainage issues highlighted the agenda of the Britton City Council at its regular meeting Monday.
With the current law enforcement contract the county pays for 70% of the cost and municipalities in the county cover the other 30%. In the proposed 2026 contract, Britton would pay 67% of the load of the municipalities’ share at $280,150. Finance Officer Jennifer Athey compared those figures with similar size communities of Salem and Parkston, and Britton is paying nearly double of what those towns do for law enforcement. She noted that 45% of the city’s revenue from property taxes currently goes toward the law enforcement contract.
“This situation has evolved and we have to change it drastically,” stressed Mayor Clyde Fredrickson.
Regarding drainage problems Chad Hardina spoke of an issue near his home at Seventh Street and 16th Avenue in the public voice portion of the meeting. John Eimers, who lives at 601 Seventh Avenue, was on the agenda and he and Russ Marlow discussed additional drainage issues in their part of town. Interim Public Works Director Cameron Gerken will attempt to do some work to temporarily help the Eimers and Marlow situation but Fredrickson said the city will look at projects to hopefully provide a permanent fix.
“The city is constantly looking for ways to improve our infrastructure, and we can get financial assistance for those types of things,” said Fredrickson.
ISG provided an update on the city water meter project which will involve replacing all the water meters in the city. The council approved a resolution for funding the project to not exceed $386,000. There was discussion on increasing monthly water bills to help pay for the project but no action was taken.
Britton librarian Cindy Krutsinger met with the council requesting that her position be increased to full time due to the cut back of employees from six to three and an increase in the work load for employees. No action was taken.
In other action the council met as a zoning board and approved a variance for a 16-foot sidewall for a shop for Christopher Soine. A peddler’s license was approved for Lauris Krasovskis to sell educational books door-to-door, and a special alcohol license was approved for Snapper’s Dry Bean for a wedding at the Event Center on Sept. 6.
Fredrickson discussed an anonymous letter listing a variety of complaints, including the cut in swimming pool hours. He said the city will face some tough decisions regarding the aging pool in the future.
“Maintenance is really becoming an issue and there are just a few small towns that have pools anymore,” noted Fredrickson.
The council decided to dismantle the columns at the cemetery to allow enlarging the entrance to the cemetery along with the Highway 10 road project. The AWOS (Automatic Weather Observation System) two-year contract at the airport was approved of $15,814 which is paid for out of federal funds received by the city.
There was discussion on making a change to special event permits that require a One Call to locate electrical lines. Any time a stake or other object goes further than 18 inches into the ground a One Call is required and the city currently absorbs that cost. Discussion included charging the special event for the service.
Information items included an upgrading of equipment by AT&T at the tower on the south edge of Britton. A double payment was accidentally made for the sewer vac lease payment and the board decided to credit that amount to the 2026 lease. The 2024 audit was discussed with a final reports expected at the next regular meeting.
The council scheduled a special meeting for Wednesday, Sept. 17, at 5:30 p.m. to begin the 2026 budget discussion process. The next regular meeting of the city council is scheduled for Monday, Sept. 8.
