At March’s monthly meeting of the Wagner City Council one of the first topics that was brought before the council was Jerrod Rolston’s request to have a city area dedicated for yard debris disposal to create a compost for residents. As Jarod’s son, Jackson, will start his yard work business up within the next month, he was interested to know if the city would be willing to create a dedicated area for compostable yard debris. In terms of yard debris, it would include small tree branches, leaves and grass clippings. The city did at one time have a yard debris disposal site near the racetrack, but people did not abide by the rules and were dumping whole trees resulting in the site being terminated. Another topic that was brought up by Rolston was recycling. Recycling is big in their family as they had done it while living in Armour and he wondered if Wagner would be willing to create a spot in the city where recyclables could be taken to instead of locals that do recycle having to drive to Mitchell, Yankton, Madison or Vermillion to take their recyclables. Members of the council thought it was a good idea and asked City Administrator Debbie Houseman to do some more research in regards to getting the projects started.

Wagner Community School Superintendent Matt Yost went before the council in order to make sure that they were informed of what the school and National Guard are currently working on that would affect the city in terms of the armory. Wagner Community School is in the process of adding on to the school with part of that being a potential community center and space for the National Guard. In the current state of the armory, it is costing the city around $83,000 annually and the school $120,000 annually along with some financial assistance from the National Guard in upkeep, supplies, utilities, etc. The National Guard had wanted to add onto the existing army but there were fortification issues that would not allow that. The school board wanted the city to know about its current plans in order to either have their blessing or possibly join in the partnership. The community center would potentially house an indoor walking path, community classrooms, workout room and National Guard vaults. The National Guard plans to eventually move all of their equipment, offices, etc. to the new site. There was no discussion on the topic by the council at that time.

Another interesting topic that was brought up at the council meeting was the thought of putting up stop signs at the intersections of Third and Main Street. Mayor Tammy Thornton stated that at least a dozen people have approached her about the safety of trying to pull out from the road in between Bouza’s Construction and the Wagner Theater. People have complained of having to creep out as their view of traffic is obstructed by anyone that is parked out front of Bouza’s storefront. It was also mentioned that it would have to be a five way stop, not a four way as the road on the south side of Bouza’s building also has a stop sign. Several topics pertaining to this were discussed including the fact that there would no longer be a U-turn, the possibility of parallel parking in front of Bouza’s or even all of Main Street, or that there would need to be an ordinance or resolution to make this happen.