The Sioux City Council members on Monday reworked the package of an outside firm managing the climbing wall portion of the Long Lines Family Recreation Center located downtown.
The climbing wall was among the new pieces added when the former Sioux City Auditorium was reworked into the city-owned recreation center. The council has sought to make sure all facilities get well used and managed, and the climbing wall has been underutilized lately.
The city Parks and Recreation staff managed the wall for 18 years, from 2004 until summer 2022, so moving to oversight by an outside firm represented a big change.
With the Monday vote the council more lengthily extended the management by Whitewater Sioux City LLC, which is headquartered in North Carolina.
Whitewater for the next year will manage the climbing wall, office, and adjacent party room, for the cost of $100,00, which matches the amount previously set aside by the city for the 2023-24 year budget for those tasks.
Whitewater has been managing the climbing wall since June 1, 2022. In July, the council approved a three-month extension agreement between the city and Whitewater, which was set to expire at the end of September.
Also in the meeting, the council accepted the donation of $50,000 from the Sioux City Parks & Recreation Foundation, which was fundraised by people who enjoy using the wall. That $50,000 will be used for the operating expenses portion of the climbing wall budget.
Also on Monday, the Woodbury County Zoning Commission held a second public hearing about the regulation of utility-scale solar energy systems, and again heard people are both for and against them being placed on rural lands.
Two weeks ago, more than 30 people turned out for the first meeting as Woodbury County officials consider changing the permitting process that could govern where utility-scale solar energy systems could be created.
Dan Priestley, the Woodbury County Zoning Coordinator, reported the second meeting had a similar variety of input, with some supportive of utility-scale solar energy systems, so long as they have guidelines, while others were opposed. Of the dozen people who spoke this time, seven were in support of the solar energy systems, and five were not, Priestly said.
The discussions come at a time when there are currently no proposed solar systems for the county. Priestley said the county wants to proactively address zoning rules for the possibility of larger sized solar units that a utility company may want to build in the future.
The next step is likely a mid-October public work session by the zoning commission to begin to piece together some recommendations regarding how utility-scale solar systems might be allowed to get permits. Based on the public input so far, Priestly said those discussions will weight such characteristics as size, setback distances or varieties of soil present.
A utility-scale solar energy system may run from 15 to 30 feet high, and take at least a few acres of land. The county supervisors recently said it might be worthwhile to consider a 20 feet high maximum.
Priestley said a recommendation for possible changes to the Woodbury County Zoning Ordinance to address the permitting process for solar systems in industrial or agricultural areas could go to the county supervisors by December or January.
Earlier this year in August, the county supervisors put in place a procedure for people to add home-sized solar systems.
