Lake Herman Sanitary District

The big question at our meeting last night (8/19) was just what sort of projects the sanitary district can undertake. When I first joined the board in 2006, I had hoped we might be able to put district funds to use on water quality projects. However, state law (SDCL 34A-5-26) defines a pretty strict set of powers for sanitary districts. The practical actions we can take appear limited by clause 4 of that statute: "To construct and operate storm and sanitary sewers and sewage and solid waste disposal plants and systems."

Can we put district funds toward projects like leasing land to establish grassed waterways along lake tributaries or supporting bacteria monitoring on the lake? If so, that would have a big impact on how much tax we levy and how we budget that revenue. Before passing a budget, we postponed action on the proposed FY2010 budget to wait for our lawyer, Jerome Lammers, to give us his insight on that question.

Mr. Lammers got back to us in short order. He agrees with a strict interpretation of statute: if state law doesn't explicitly say we can do it, we can't do it. There are a couple things sanitary districts can do beyond waste disposal, upon voter approval:

• acquire and operate a water system (SDCL 34A-5-41)
• assume the power of a road district (SDCL 31-12A-20.1)

But that's it. We might be able to argue that water quality projects like those discussed at last night's meeting are related to dealing with wastewater, but our counsel is hesitant to make that argument.

Mr. Lammers does suggest that we could seek an opinion from the Attorney General. As counsel explains, an opinion from the Attorney General isn't the final word -- even if the AG says something sounds kosher, another party can still take a question to court and seek a judge's ruling (and it is the judicial branch, not the executive, that has the final say on interpreting the law). Still, getting the AG's opinion sounds like a really good idea, and I'll likely get on that in the coming week.

Now even if the AG concurs with our attorney on our limited powers, there are still things we can do besides building a sewer system. Our own ordinances (I will get those digitized and uploaded here one of these days) authorize us to conduct inspections of private septic systems. But we want to find out exactly where we stand legally, then make the best call we can about how we can spend the district's money (i.e., your money) before we finalize the budget.

And don't forget, if you have suggestions for how we can use that money, send us your suggestions! Use the "Add new comment" link below, give Lawrence or me a phone call, or come to our next meeting on Wednesday, September 16, 6:30 p.m., Madison Public Library.