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Nice with plenty of sun. High 81º Low 56º | Page 5
2014/2015 NDNA AWARD WINNER
Friday, August 7, 2015
VOL. 110 NO. 32
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BOWMAN
City questions ordinance enforcement
Zoning administrator tells commission some ordinances aren’t being enforced By Bryce Martin
Pioneer Editor bmartin@countrymedia.net Bowman’s zoning administrator thinks there’s
a problem with some local ordinances: their enforcement often is wishy-washy and the city ends up looking like it’s being unfair to certain parties. The solution, if there is
one, now rests in the hands of the city commission. Zoning Administrator Cheryl Ryan brought up her concerns Tuesday during the Bowman City Board of Commissioners’ regular meeting. Ryan straightforwardly told commissioners that she believed the city had a problem enforcing ordinances. She specifically
referenced the current city ordinance that regulates inoperable motor vehicle nuisances. Ryan recently noticed in Bowman’s municipal court that some people were given additional time by the judge to clear the reported nuisance and were not issued a citation. Others were. Without hearing both
sides—as Ryan pointed out the explanations play out in the courtroom and not the commissioners’ room during city meetings—it appeared to some that a group of people were being targeted. The current ordinance offers two remedies for such a nuisance; either the vehicles be moved into a closed building or they
be removed from the city limits. Failure to comply could result in a resident being cited into municipal court and potentially face a fine. Ryan struggled with that and wanted to provide a better option, but she admitted there are flaws. One of her ideas was to
CITY | PAGE 2
FAIR
BOWMAN
Board buys carnival rides for fairgrounds By Bryce Martin
Pioneer Editor bmartin@countrymedia.net
fic when people transport items to the landfill. That road was in peril, according to Breiner. Five holes remained along the gravel road leading to the landfill. Those holes encoun-
Imagine the smiling faces of children being spun into amusement on a Tilt-AWhirl, some older folks recalling their lunches on a Scrambler or a man trying to show off for his loved one in a test of strength on the high striker. Those sights have been absent from the fair in Bowman County for quite some time, much to the disappointment of many. But that’s about to change. Justin Wolbaum, a member of the Bowman County Fair Board, confirmed that several rides were purchased last month by the fair board at a cost of about $6,300. That cost was allocated from the board’s general fund. It was a much lesser expense considering carnivals in the past have requested they be guaranteed a $50,000 minimum for setting up in Bowman, he said. “And (a carnival) is for only two, three days,” Wolbaum added. Instead, the fair board sought something more permanent. Wolbaum said Darwin Wilke, president of the fair board, found a group of carnival rides listed on a South Dakota auction site. He and a large group then headed down to Boondocks Diner & Amusement, a small theme park and diner about nine miles south of Deadwood, S.D., to look at the rides and make an offer. They came back with something they hoped would add to the fair’s annual entertainment. A bullet-type ride, as Wolbaum explained, was purchased, along with a miniature train, for younger children. For the adults, the board purchased three staples to a traditional carnival, a Tilt-a-Whirl, a Scrambler and an Octopus. The Tilt-a-Whirl is a platform-type ride, consisting of freely spinning cars that hold three or four riders, which are attached at fixed pivot points on a rotating platform. As the platform revolves, parts of the platform are raised and lowered, and the resulting forces cause the cars to spin in different directions and at variable speeds. A historical favorite, the Scrambler— a national variation of the twist—has no
MINE | PAGE 3
RIDES | PAGE 3
Joan Breiner, an environmental scientist with the Abandoned Mine Lands Division of the North Dakota Public Service Commission, walks along the east side of the Halleck Mine, an abandoned coal mine located a few miles north of the city of Bowman. The underground mine experienced a massive, dangerous sinkhole last year. To strengthen the mine’s voids, crews began pumping a cement mixture into the mine last week through holes around its perimeter. Photo By Bryce Martin / Pioneer
FIXING HISTORY
Crew begins work on abandoned Halleck Mine By Bryce Martin
Pioneer Editor bmartin@countrymedia.net When the Halleck Mine ceased mining operations in 1946, one year after World War II ended, a sizable problem was left that wouldn’t revel itself for several decades. It wasn’t until last year that it was discovered that the coalmine, located north of the city of Bowman, was collapsing. In fact, it had been slowly collapsing for years. It is the job of Joan Breiner to fix what was left to ensure the area is safe. As an environmental scientist with the Abandoned Mine Lands Division of the North Dakota Public Service Commission, Breiner is leading a team in filling voids left in the earth where the underground mine had collapsed. A large portion sank well below the surface.
Forty feet of the coal seam, the amount of space filled with coal, was bored 15 feet, according to an old map of the mine. Breiner refuted those estimates—instead, the spaces were dug closer to 20 feet. That gives more room for the area to collapse. “(They) probably knew it would collapse,” Breiner said of the original mine operators. The problem was seemingly brushed under the rug and left for future generations to fix. Though it wasn’t likely a devious scenario, as she said there was a lack of timber available at that time in history to shore up empty spaces left between the surface and the remaining coal. There is also no bedrock in the area, which can lead to subsidence. That’s an unavoidable flaw in the region’s geology. The mine is situated on a
Two workers with B & C Concrete Pumping of Williston examine the grout used to pump into the abandoned Halleck Mine, located a few miles north of Bowman on 146th Avenue. A sign posted near the edge of the mine cautions people from approaching the mine because it is unsafe. Photo By Bryce Martin / Pioneer large, city-owned property at the corner of 146th Avenue, where it forks west and north. The space spans about 3/4-miles north and 1/4-mile west along the two roads. Less than a mile to the north is the city landfill. The road sees a lot of vehicle traf-
SPORTS
REGION
Bowman Parks and Rec’s co-ed softball tournament concluded this week. PAGE 10
Things are heating up in western South Dakota as the annual rally revvs up. PAGE 2
Local team gets second in co-ed softball tourney INDEX
Sports................ 10-11 |
Obituaries................ 7
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A mad dash at the 75th Sturgis Rally
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Opinion................ 6
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Church Directory................ 7
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Briefs................ 2
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Community............. 4-5