Watertown City Council Updates Asset Policy, Warns Lake Kampeska Builders on Erosion Control, Indoor Tennis Facility Discussion Coming
- Steve Jurrens
- 6 hours ago
- 3 min read
Northeast Radio SD News – Watertown, SD - The Watertown City Council approved its final governance update of the evening on August 3, 2026, adopting Governance Policy GP-04 to modernize the city’s fixed asset capitalization and insurance tracking rules.
The meeting concluded with key administrative updates from City Manager Alan Stager, including a warning about unpermitted shoreline runoff into Lake Kampeska and preliminary interest in a public-private partnership for an indoor tennis facility.
Modernizing Capital Asset Tracking
Governance Policy GP-04 replaces the city’s previous fixed asset policy established in 2015, aligning Watertown with current Generally Accepted Accounting Principles (GAAP) and Governmental Accounting Standards Board (GASB) guidelines.
City Manager Alan Stager explained that the refresh was specifically recommended by the city’s auditing firm, Eide Bailly, following their review of city operations.
“This really streamlines and defines what level of assets we capitalize in the books and records and how we track different asset classes,” Stager told the council. “This is a recommendation of Eide Bailly, our audit firm as well, that we refresh our policy, and they are aligned with what we have recommended here.”
Under GP-04, the city establishes clear minimum financial thresholds before an item is formally capitalized and depreciated on official ledgers:
· Land: All parcels capitalized at historical cost, regardless of value.
· Buildings & Infrastructure: Capitalized if the cost reaches or exceeds $50,000 with a useful life of at least two years. Routine maintenance—such as street milling, chip sealing, and crack sealing—will continue to be expensed rather than capitalized.
· Machinery & Automotive Equipment: Capitalized if the cost exceeds $20,000.
· Furniture & Controlled Equipment: Capitalized if the cost exceeds $10,000.
· Technology Assets: Items such as servers, enterprise copiers, and network equipment are capitalized if unit costs exceed $5,000. Lower-cost electronics (laptops, radios, smartphones) under $5,000 will be expensed, though sensitive items will still be inventoried on a controlled asset worksheet for insurance purposes.
Councilman Lynn Jurrens moved to approve Policy GP-04, with a second from Councilman Michael Heuer. The policy passed on a unanimous voice vote.
Erosion Control Warning for Lake Kampeska
During his administrative report, Stager issued a public reminder regarding shoreline construction activities along Lake Kampeska. City inspectors have noted several active, small-scale construction projects operating without proper sediment barriers.
While land-disturbing projects under one acre do not require state-level environmental permits, Stager clarified that Chapter 23 of Watertown’s municipal ordinances still mandates local erosion control measures to protect water quality.
“We’ve been seeing some issues on Lake Kampeska where there are several projects in process with no erosion control in place at all,” Stager warned. “By ordinance in Chapter 23, they are still required to have erosion control measures to ensure that sediment and the earth isn’t ending up in Lake Kampeska... We would rather have you do the right thing than come out with enforcement.”
Stager also proposed a City Council work Session for Wednesday, August 26, to review the Capital Improvement Plan (CIP), re-evaluate council priority projects, discuss citywide sidewalk policies, and review infrastructure funding formulas.
Potential Indoor Tennis Facility
Looking ahead to future agenda items, Councilman Brent Mohrmann informed the council that local community members are exploring the feasibility of building a new indoor tennis facility in Watertown.
Mohrmann indicated that proponents intend to request a preliminary meeting with city administration to discuss a potential public-private partnership.
“Obviously, with the way money is right now, it would be definitely heavy on the private partnership end of it,” Mohrmann noted. “But just letting you know that hopefully in the near future, there’ll be a handful of individuals that are going to be coming in to have a meeting about that.”
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