BrandonInfo.com

Have you noticed a white car driving very slowly (30 mph) on Rice Street on your way to work lately? Do you follow slowly or do you pass the car? There aren’t too many places to pass on the curvy road to Sioux Falls.

Have you compensated by leaving earlier for work? Have you passed in a no-passing zone? Have you called local law enforcement?

It’s frustrating to get stuck behind a slow moving vehicle when you’re on a schedule. I’m lucky in that I travel to work at times other than the rush hour. But I did encounter this white car once on my way home from work in the late afternoon/early evening.

The speed limit along Rice Street is 45 mph except for one stretch that is 55 mph. Is it a safety hazard to be driving along at 55 mph and then come around a curve and quickly have to slow to 30 mph to avoid rear-ending another vehicle?

Did you see either of the Democratic presidential hopefuls during their stops in Sioux Falls recently?

If so, what did you think of what they had to say? Did their stops here influence your choice for president?

If you didn’t go, why not?

There will be no school election this spring. Todd Egge was the only person to hand in a petition for the three-year term, so he gets the school board seat by default. He’ll replace Mike Klumpp, who did not run for re-election after two terms on the board.

Why only one candidate? Are people so satisfied with the job the school board is doing that they don’t feel the need to serve? Is it apathy on the public’s part?

Perhaps people are not willing to make the time commitment it takes to serve on the board.

With no election, there will be no campaining, and no issues will be discussed. How do you feel about that?

Anybody need a water tower? The city has an extra one that’s up for sale.

The city will open bids Thursday for the water tower that’s on the east side of town, near the golf course.

What’s a water tower worth, I wonder? What would someone do with it? What if nobody bids on it? What will the city do with it? Is it worth it to tear down just for the scrap metal?

The city is asking Brandon residents to voluntarily restrict their lawn watering this season. The city is asking people who live at even-numbered addresses to water only on even-numbered days, and likewise with odd-numbered addresses.

This policy is more liberal than the policy in Sioux Falls, where water restrictions will be enforced year-round.

At my house, we don’t water our lawn at all. Our reasoning is that the more lush the lawn is, the more work it creates. And we prefer leisure time over yard work. Well, that’s not entirely accurate. It seems like there is always a long list of household chores to do, and making a point of adding one more chore to the list, especially a self-perpetuating one, seems counterproductive.

Do you water your lawn? If so, will you follow the odd-even system?

There is an article in today’s Argus Leader (page 7A) that says Congress is trying to bring back the steel-made pennis of World War II and may be using steel for nickels too.

Why? Because it costs more than a penny – 1.26 cents – to make a penny. And it costs 7.5 cents to make a nickel. Every time the government makes these coins, it loses money.

Yet, I know many people who have a jar of pennies in their house.

Get those pennies back in circulation. Use them when you make purchases. Or just take them to the bank and have them replaced with folding money. If everyone kept pennies in circulation, the government would not have to consider making them out of steel. If everyone kept pennis in circulation, the government even might not have to make any more pennies.

Do you keep pennies or other coins in a jar, box, bowl, etc.?

Monday night, the city council went against a planning and zoning commission recommendation and granted a variance for a garage on property where there is not yet a house.

On several occasions in recent months, the council has gone against planning and zoning recommendations. We expect our elected officials, and our appointed ones as well, to do proper research before they make decisions that affect the future of our community. But when two city panels disagree with one another, how can citizens be confident the city is looking out for their best interests? Who is correct on these issues? The commission? Or the council?

We can’t just assume that the panel that gives the applicant what he wants is the right one. Certainly there are exceptions to every rule, and that’s why variances and conditional use permits exist. But city law has specific criteria for granting these exceptions. How can both panels follow the law and come up with opposite conclusions?

What are your thoughts?

The deadline for filing petitions for school board is Friday. But so far, no one has turned in a petition.

Three people have taken out petitions, though. They are Todd Egge, Holly Hauck and Paul VanDeBerg.

Which of these possible candidates would you support, if any? And why?

Apparently a tornado touched down last night east of Valley Springs.

It was a short outburst, but powerful. Did the storm damage anything where you live? Shingles gone? Trees down? Budding tulips wiped out?

I was at a church function yesterday evening and heard the storm sirens. We all had to go downstairs twice when the sirens blew.