Rapid City Journal from Rapid City, South Dakota • 15

Rapid City Journal Obituaries, B2 0 Black Hills Journal, B3 Weather, B6 OCAL Friday July 27, 2001 CMzems elbjeett to sewage-water sntte 7 A LA Leaking sewage-water system can't handle demand. By Bill Harlan Journal Staff Writer Hill City hopes to" dispose of treated sewage water by spraying It on a par-Hill ntv of land east of town, "'ML. but homeowners near the site object. "We wanted to stay here," Verlln Schultz, who lives a mile and a half from town on Old Hill City Road, said. Schultz worries that the treated water will stink.

He also laments the loss of 2 1 3 acres of Black Hills National Forest next to his property. Schultz and his neighbors often hike through the meadows and rocky outcropplngs, which offer spectacular views of Harney Peak and Elkhorn Mountain. "This would definitely hurt our quality of life," Schultz said. Hill City Mayor Pete Stach says the city's plan Is an environmentally sound option for a small town that Is out of options. Hill City's current sewage lagoons are leaking, Stach said, and the system can't handle the growing demand.

So far, the state has not Issued a "compliance order," but Stach said the city could face fines of $10,000 a day or more. "The bottom line is. this project has got to get done," he said. Stach added, "There is no putrid smell. It's treated water." Many people disagree, and strongly.

The issue has turned debates Into shouting matches in Hill City, and it has inspired an angry exchange of letters and guest editorials In the Hill City Prevaller. Hill City has struggled with the issue for nearly three years. The city eventually hired a Denver engineering firm to study the problem and write a plan for the project, which Stach said would cost about $2.3 million. The city hopes to rebuild sewage lagoons and build another pond near the "land application" site. Sewage would be treated by aeration In the lower lagoons, then pumped over a ridge to a tract owned by the U.S.

Forest Service. The city is negotiating to buy land it then would trade for the 213-acre Forest Service parcel. The city would use" 175 acres and sell the rest. fThe Forest Service won't trade for part of the land.) The city submitted a preliminary plan to the state last year. The state responded with a list of concerns, and the city Is working to answer them.

Engineer Doug Sperlich of Rapid City, whose firm acts as city engineer Storm Mountain, shown in background center, overlooks a grassy meadow on the property where Hill City wants to apply treated wastewater. 7 j5 for Hill City, said the treated water would be clean enough for streams In most of South Dakota. "A lot of communities do this," Sperlich said. Schultz agreed treated wastewater was good enough for irrigation. "But See Lagoon, Page B2 Photos by Don PolovlchJournal stall Verlin Schultz and his dog, Garth, take a break on the tracks used by Black Hills Central Railroad's 1880 Train.

Hill City wants to apply treated wastewater from its sewage lagoons to the land. Many communities use similar systems, but Schultz, who lives nearby, opposes the plan. Court: Injured driver can sue city for car-chase negligence Audit will add 76 jobs for military at EAFB he Rapid City Police Department has a policy against high-speed chases, which existed before the accident. showed they needed more employees, definitely," she said. Another Air Force announcement down the road could mean even more EAFB Jobs In the future, she said.

Although EAFB lost its bid to be home to the new Global Hawk high altitude robot spy plane, Air Force officials said they might expand the Global Hawk fleet in the future. As Air Force officials firmed up plans to Install the first Global Hawk planes and the corresponding 800 Jobs at Beale Air Force Base in northern California, they said, "This is going to be the first, not the last," Hayes said. Because EAFB was among the top three contenders, its chances of housing a Global Hawk expansion are good, Hayes said. "All the folks who were up for the first round are going to be considered for any future sites," she said. "They want to see what It's capable of before they decide how many more they're going to need." By Journal and AP staff Rapid City is not immune from a lawsuit filed on behalf of a driver who was Pierre severely Injured when his vehicle was struck by a car being pursued by police.

The case must go back to 7th Circuit Court to decide whether the city was negligent In the police pursuit that resulted in the accident. The South Dakota Supreme Court unanimously said Thursday that Christopher Cromwell may sue the city. Cromwell suffered spine and head Injuries on Aug. 1, 1997, when his car was hit by a car driven by Steven B. Purchase of Rapid City.

The accident happened about 6:30 p.m. on St. Cloud Street when Purchase ran a stop sign at the intersection of Fifth and St. Cloud streets. Officer Michael Lang chased Purchase after receiving word that he had caused a disturbance at his mother's home.

Lang said Purchase was going 64 mph at the time of the collision. Purchase was sentenced to the state prison on drunken-driving and other charges from the accident and unrelated ments are not covered by the doctrine If they have liability Insurance or are members of a risk-sharing pool that provides coverage. Rapid City was in the South Dakota Public Assurance Alliance, a risk-sharing pool, at the time of the accident. The city's coverage was on a claims-paid basis, David Lust, an attorney representing the city in the case, said. Under this type of policy, the risk pool was responsible only for claims paid during the time the city was a member of the pool.

In October 1998, more than a year after the accident, the city left the risk poll and opted for coverage with St. Paul Insurance company. That policy was a claims-made policy. It is different from the risk pool because the insurance company Is responsible for paying claims that occurred while the policy was active, even if the city no longer is covered by that policy, Katherine Maguire, a representative of St. Paul Insurance, the city's insurer, said.

When the risk-pool contract ended Oct. 1. 1998, coverage for pending claims before that See Suit, Page B6 transfers elsewhere. Ellsworth officials will not comment on the situation until today, when the Air Force officially announces the Jobs shuffle, public affairs officer Lt. Christine Millette said Thursday.

Meanwhile, EAFB will add 12 military positions in the expeditionary aerospace force, which is the group of nontechnical support employees who work on the B-IB Lancer bombers In EAFB's 28th Bomb Wing, Hayes said. Another 94 military Jobs will be added to maintain the bombers, which were designed to carry nuclear warheads but have been retrofitted for conventional weapons. Five new military jobs will be added throughout the base where needed, Hayes said. Ellsworth currently has 3,500 full-time positions 3, 100 military personnel and 400 civilian workers. The Air Force personnel audit showed that EAFB crews are overworked, Hayes said.

"They looked through the base to see how much work was being done and how many man hours were into it It Bomber maintenance will generate most jobs. By Denlsa Ross Journal Staff Writer Ellsworth Air Force Base will gain 76 Jobs through a Ellsworth AFB personnel audit. Jennifer Hayes, spokeswoman for Rep. John Thune, said military and civilian Air Force employees will be shifted nationwide, and EAFB will gain employees. "It sends a strong signal that the Air Force is willing to support the B- Is at Ellsworth.

They see it as a solid operation," Hayes said. EAFB will lose 25 military Jobs and 10 civilian Jobs in the medical group, she said, and gain 1 1 1 military Jobs In other areas. Air Force officials want to make the medical group more efficient and will refer more patients to specialists In Rapid City, Hayes said. She was unsure If the 10 civilians would lose their Jobs or be offered charges pending in Deadwood at the time of the accident, John Dorsey, Cromwell's attorney, said. The Rapid City Police Department has a policy against highspeed chases, which existed before the accident.

Police Chief Craig Tieszen said. Police officers have to make a decision in a matter of seconds based on the nature of the crime, whether the identity of the wrongdoer Is known, and traffic, weather and road conditions. Pursuit in four-wheel-drive police vehicles, such as the one Lang was driving, also is barred. When Cromwell sued for damages, the city claimed sovereign Immunity, citing a doctrine predating the Constitution that a government cannot be sued without Its consent State law says local govern Call reporter Denise Ross at 394-8438 or send e-mail to dentse.rossrapldcityjoumaJ.com. Miifaninf 'iJiAirfWf Official: Keep Heartland 1-90 project nears end; lanes open By Steve Miller West River Editor north of the highway.

DOT officials said they would continue to review the plan but that the cost of acquiring right-of-way In the area prohibits almost any other design. State officials also said the current overpass didn't have much life left in it. proved Highway 287 as the state's portion of the Ports to Plains project, Representatives from the three states, along with New Mexico, meet Monday with federal highway representatives about the plan. The Nebraska portion of the Heartland Expressway will contain both two- and four-lane roadway on Motorists now have four clear lanes of 90 all the way through Rapid City. A Hammond, rancher injured in a tractor accident Wednesday dies of his injuries.

Page B4 An argument between a Hill City couple leaves a woman with several knife wounds and her husband facing aggravated-assault charges. Page B6 The reconstruction project from Exit 57 to Exit 59, begun in Rapid City Some of these cornmunities are struggling economically and can't hold out too long. the western edge ol the state. District 30 state Sen. DrueWter.

R-Hill City, said DOT officials also had to consider the economic impact on nearby communities, as well as transportation needs, when improving the high way. "Some of these com Sen. Dm Vftter, In brief R-HMCtt urging Mat DOT official to consider the economic impact of the Heartland Expmtway By Bill Clssell Journal Staff Writer A Colorado city manager has urged South Dakota Department of Ranirf Ntv Transportation offl-napm buy cials to continue working on the Heartland Expressway, saying the project fits well with one being worked on by three south-central states. DOT officials listened Tuesday at a Rapid City meeting to public comment on various road projects scheduled for 2002. The Heartland Expressway on Highway 79 Is a multiyear project rebuilding the road from two lanes to four lanes from Just south of Rapid City to Maverick Junction, east of Hot Springs.

The Ports to Plains route is a similar plan under study by Colorado, Oklahoma and Texas, Limon, city manager Joe Killy told state officials. He said the Heartland would be a natural extension of that proposal. The Heartland, with a completion date of 2006, Is intended to provide better north-south access between western South Dakota and the Denver metro area. In 2002. another 12.1 miles of work from Hermosa to the Falrburn Corner Is scheduled, at a projected cost of $8.37 million.

The Ports to Plains project runs from Mexico to the Denver area. It would be a combination of two- and four-lane highway. Killy later said the Colorado Transportation Commission ap the spring of 2000, is wrapping up, and all four lanes opened to traffic Thursday, Gary Engel, Rapid City area engineer with the state Department of Transportation, said. Heavy Constructors of Rapid City, the contractor, met its Aug. 1 deadline on the 1-90 portion, Engel said.

"They've gotten after it," he added. Work on the Haines Avenue widening project at Exit 58 could be finished late next week, depending on how quickly the new concrete "cures," Engel said. Haines is being widened to at least six lanes and, In some places, seven lanes. Other work on 1-90 in the area is done or nearly done. Pavement repair and transverse grooving from Exit 37 to Exit 32 on the south side of Sturgis is finished.

Work on 1-90 from Ellsworth Air Force Base to New Underwood was expected to be finished Thursday or today, Engel said. And the paving and bridge work on 1-90 between Exit 17 and Exit 30 on the north side of Sturgis should be finished some time next week. In time for the Sturgis motorcycle rally, Engel said. He said the work was nearly finished, with crews doing cleanup, lane striping and grass seeding. The Nemo Road construction project west of Rapid City still is going on, Engel said.

Question or comments? Contact West River Editor Steve Miller at 394-641 7 or at ateve.rnMerrap!clcytoumataom. Two boot-camp escapees caught WATERTOWN (AP) Police In EsteWne have caught two of three boys who escaped from Custer Boot Camp In the Black Hills. Police from Deuel and Hamlin counties were searching a cornfield Thursday about two miles east of Estelllne for the third boy who escaped. The boys walked away from Custer Boot Camp In the Black Hills early Monday morning. A boot-camp staff member saw them and followed, but they got away.

Napoli also addressed the proposed $5.97 million Exit 67 project that moves the main entrance to Ellsworth Air Force Base one mile east and creates a new access road to the military facility. The town of Box Elder will lose access to and sales-tax revenue from many of its businesses if the current Exit 66 is closed, he said. The Exit 66 interchange is in a potential crash zone for B-1 bombers taking off and landing at the base. Base officials and area community leaders fear losing the base entirely If the new interchange Isn't built Napoli said town officials are See Heartland, Page B2 munities are struggling economically and can't hold out too long," Vltter said. Related to the Heartland Expressway project and scheduled to begin In 2002 Is work on the Southeast Connector that eventually will link Interstate 90 at the Exit 61 interchange with Highway 79.

The first section is 3.3 miles from Exit 61 Elk Vale Road to Fairmont Boulevard. The projected price tag Is $14.25 million. District 35 state Rep. Bill Napoli. R-Rapid City, told DOT officials that the plan, which Includes closing access from Highway 44 to the existing St.

Patrick Street overpass, creates a hardship on residential traffic and the 1,100 employees of the Conseco company, which is just Umjamaamm eoawttrt abeataaf IociTmws eevtrtge? CaKPrt dofehs at Tail ttaJ(SSi MM3S3 iA'tS.