STURGIS, S.D. – Documents from the early 2000’s have indicated county officials knew about the old gypsum mine that has opened up sinkholes, evacuating more than a dozen homes in a Blackhawk subidivison.
Those documents indicate multiple references to the mine, before homes were even built.
The final phase of the project was approved in October of 2002 and information about the mine was introduced to stakeholders in the development in 2006.
Meeting notes indicated developers wanting to close off part of Daisy Drive, where most of the homes have been evacuated, because it was caving into the old mine. But, the notes show the planning board at the time did not want to close the road, and instructed their engineer to have the developers fix it properly.
Meade County has no zoning, however, and Bill Rich, Meade County Deputy Director with Equalization and Planning, has said the there’s nothing to regulate what goes on a tract of land.
The Meade County Commission last week approved beginning a FEMA application that will offer homeowners 75-percent of their home’s value pre-sinkhole.
