AnonymousKnitter

In the last year, I have mentioned a little bit on the blog about what has been going on with my Dad’s acreage several miles North of Sioux Falls, SD.  My Dad purchased the property several years before I was born, he moved out there in 1962 and bought the property in 1963.

In the last 10 or more years, the county has been harassing him to clean up the acreage he owns near, Garretson Sd. Up until 3 years ago, he would ask who was complaining about the property and the county dropped the issue. He has been fined once so far, and the county has ruled against him as far as cleanup is concerned. Every time he asks the County who has complained against him, they decline to answer.

In March of 2011, Minnehaha county ruled that either Dad clean up the property, or they would hire a contractor to do so, and assess a lien on his property. The property value has been assessed at 146,000 dollars.

Over the years, Dad made great strides to clean up the property. While doing so, he worked full time at John Morell & Co, and raised 7 kids. In 1961, his first child, a daughter was born. Dad was in the National Guard at the time. He took his basic training in Fort Leonard Wood. He did his service time in Fort Sill, Ok.

There was a house on the property in 1962 that was not in good shape, they lived in it for about 5 years. Dad moved a trailer out to the property for his family to live in. In 1969, a son was born. I came along in 1972. In 1977 another trailer was moved to the property as it was safer for us kids. In 1980, and then 1982 sons were born.  In 1985, the trailer house that we were living in burned down, and the family moved to Sioux Falls for 2-3 years. Several local fire departments came to assist with the fire, but the house could not be saved. The original house on the property and the old trailer were torn down. All of the junk cars were removed at this time, and landscaping and other work was done on the farm.  In 1988, the house that now sits on the property was moved from near McKennan Hospital, and the family moved back home. In 1990, and 1993, two more children were born. 

The farm for years has been a refuge for wildlife, and in this picture, you can barely see a fawn hiding in the brush.

The Argus Leader, South Dakota’s main newspaper, featured my Father, and took some video.

Argus Leader Article original article which the Dallas Morning News referred to.

Pictures of the property cleaning

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The county did go in and clean up Dad’s acreage, and assessed a $13,000 lien on his property, which with 10% interest, accrued weekly, has raised the price of the lien to over $15,000.  He is trying to pay this lien, as well as the loan on the property, and the taxes due on the property. Dad does not let his bills go.

  The county contractor did quite a bit of damage, as evidenced by the following pictures. The company that cleaned up the property left quite a bit of rubble behind.

According to my Dad, the county’s contractor in another instance wanted to store these stones on the farm for putting the black top on the road nearby. He said that when they were finished, they would put the stones in his driveway if any were leftover. Dad assumed that this was a 3-4 day proposition. The stones were there for over a month and of course killed all the grass underneath it. When they were done, they basically thumbed their nose at him. They left a layer of stones that no vehicle could drive through. He got his mower caught in it as well.

He approached the county about that problem at the time, and was told that this was a deal outside of the county’s responsibility.

He was given the contractor’s phone number, and called twice, but was ignored.

It was within days of his complaint, that the original letter about the cleanup came.

In that letter was the county ordinances about what can and can not be on the property and included was a line stating that there cannot be an accumulation of stones.

It was at this time that Dad realized that he was dealing with hypocrites.

I’m quoting my Father directly.
My Feelings are that this is a bad law. Less than 1/3 of the Rural residents are in compliance with this law. I would like to sue the county to get this law stopped. There is extensive damage to the property that I would like to be reimbursed for, as well as punitive damages. If they just get charged for my personal damages, that won’t slow them down for a minute even, I would like this law stopped.

They burned all of the fuel he had for the wood stove. Dad’s home is heated exclusively by a wood burner. They also burned all the picket fencing, and the mulch he was using for the garden.

With the damage to the garden, both the annuals and perennials were destroyed by the contractor’s work. They compacted the soil to the point that it is almost un-tillable. Rhubarb, Horseradish, Raspberries, Grapevines, , Potatoes, Parsnips, Tomatoes, and the Onion patch were going to feed Dad through the winter, even the peonies were destroyed. Totally destroyed. Yes, the property, according to the video and pictures needed cleaning up, but there had to be a better way to do this.

On April 24, Dad was informed that he could no longer pay the taxes on his property, until the lien is paid in full. They refused to let him pay even cash for the property taxes.

This is Dad’s response, to Minnehaha County, and what they have done.