Council Okays First Reading Of Truck Route Ordinance

    During the Britton City Council Meeting on Monday, the council dealt with a couple of items relating to the Marshall County Courthouse Project. The group convened as the zoning board to deal with a rezone and variance. With the upcoming courthouse renovations and law enforcement center construction, these measures are necessary for the project to proceed. 
    Because the courthouse was constructed before zoning was required, the property was never subject to zoning. The council voted to zone it as a government facility. A variance was also granted for a sallyport on the east side of the property to have a zero-foot setback with direct access to the street. 
    The council discussed and ultimately approved the first reading of Ordinance 606 titled “an ordinance regarding designation and enforcement of truck routes.” This measure has been discussed for the last couple of months and City Attorney Justin Scott worked with Public Works Supervisor George Flanery to draft it. The ordinance makes it unlawful for people to operate motor vehicles that have a gross vehicle weight of over 10,000 pounds within the limits, with the exception of designated truck routes. 

Truck Routes Listed In Ordinance 606*

-SD Highways 10 and 27, Main Avenue
-Marshall County Highway 9 / 423rd Ave
-8th Ave from HWY 10 going south two blocks to 9th St
-9th St from 9th Ave to 8th Ave
-9th Ave from 9th St to HWY 10
-8th St from 8th Ave to 7th Ave
-7th Ave from HWY 10 to 8th Street
-14th Ave from HWY 10 to 1st Street
-5th Ave from HWY 10 to 7th street
-7th St from 5th Ave to 6th Ave 

*(First Reading Approved Monday Night)

    To allow for deliveries, the ordinance allows overweight vehicles to deviate from the designated truck routes to the extent required to reach their destination by taking the most direct route from the truck route. It also stipulates that no vehicles in excess of the weight limit can be parked on a city street or roadway for more than two hours except for loading and unloading and making service calls. 
    Flanery noted that the goal behind the ordinance is to preserve city streets as much as possible and take heavy truck traffic out of residential areas. Though the council approved the first reading, they noted that the weight limit could be changed prior to the second reading at the March meeting. To see the full ordinance, visit City Hall. 
    In the ISG engineers’ report, they discussed the pavement management plan and the recently completed study of Britton streets. The early data show that 48% of the streets have a Pavement Condition Index (PCI) of less than 40, putting them in the ‘poor’ or ‘very poor’ category. Around 70% of the streets are at a PCI of less than 50. The engineers acknowledge that this indicates a lot of road work may be required. They added that they will have a detailed report at the March meeting that will summarize the road study in addition to offering maintenance and construction options and estimating costs. 
    Mayor Clyde Fredrickson spoke about the Continental Apartments. The building is now for sale from HME, the company who currently owns it. Much work is needed on the building though Fredrickson noted that it is mostly sound. Councilmember Lindsey Kimber noted that a substantial and highly competitive housing grant could be available to help with rehabbing the property and the project would  benefit from being owned by a municipality. Fredrickson and the council agreed however that they are not interested in getting involved with the property at this time. 
    In other business, various funds were transferred from ‘assigned’ to ‘unassigned’ per the auditor’s suggestion. It was noted that the main lift station and sanitary sewer reconstruction project will soon be advertised for bids.