MITCHELL — The Mitchell Area Development Corporation’s proposed industrial park may give an economic boost to Mitchell by recruiting new businesses.
But the owner of a local campground nearby believes his business will pay the price.
MADC has not yet closed on the property, which is located off Interstate 90 at Exit 330 and across from Trail King Industries at the corner of South Ohlman Street and East Spruce Street.
“If you have a business that wants to come to Mitchell, we want to have a build-ready site for them,” MADC CEO Mike Lauritsen told the Mitchell Republic.
No lots of the proposed industrial park have been pre-sold, according to Lauritsen.
“We have to do the engineering on it, and then we'll do the construction, and we'll be ready to sell lots, but our focus is the distribution center,” Lauritsen said.
MADC has been in discussions for over a year and a half with property owner Jerry Thomsen, who is a past president of Trail King Industries and also owns the Ruby Tuesday restaurant, the Highland Travel Plaza gas station and the Hampton Inn, and is co-owner of the Comfort Inn at Exit 332 off Interstate 90.
“We told Jerry, ‘We don’t know how long this process will be,’ and he was willing to go through that with us,” Lauritsen said.
Josh and Rhonda Barlean own the five-acre Dakota Campground, which touches the proposed industrial park land on the north and east sides. They are concerned that there will be semi-trucks idling and making deliveries at all hours of the night, bringing blinking lights and beeping sounds that will be distracting for campground guests.
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“I believe no one will camp here. I believe we would have to close,” Josh Barlean told the Mitchell Republic.
The Barleans believe that anything other than an industrial park would benefit both Mitchell and tourists stopping in from Interstate 90.
“Anything that you see at Exit 332 can't go here — hotels, restaurants, bars, the shops,” Josh Barlean said.
Lauritsen agreed.
“Our goal is a distribution center. We'll have a more diverse economy and will be growing,” Lauritsen said.
A distribution center is a warehouse that stores, sorts, and distributes goods, frequently for retailers to move out to stores. Mitchell's location on I-90 and in the center of the country would seem to make the community a contender for such site.
Barlean, 45, questioned why the MADC needed to own so much land.
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“Is this really a good idea? Shouldn’t they help people find land and buy it from Jerry?” Josh Barlean said.
Local impact
Josh Barlean’s work as a lineman included traveling and being on jobsites for months at a time. In 2020, the Barleans sold their house of 20 years in Mitchell to live in their camper full time after their daughter graduated from high school.
After retirement, the Barleans planned on becoming campground hosts and to travel across America to various campsites year-round.
When the previous Dakota Campground owners told the Barleans that 2023 was their last season, everything fell into place for the Barleans to buy, and later that year, they did.
Patrons ask the Barleans for recommendations on local restaurants, repair shops, and tourist sights. The Barleans send people to the local grocery stores, restaurants and gas stations for goods, propane and food.
“Every day, we send people to other parts of town,” Josh Barlean said.
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Campers with license plates from Canada and even Spain have stayed at the Dakota Campground’s 58 campsites with a canopy of mature trees. Long-term stays include traveling nurses for Avera and construction workers for the soybean plant, among others. The campground owners have to turn people away during the busy season.
Rhonda Barlean, 52, heard there was going to be a new industrial park coming to town through a social media post and wanted to know the location. She reached out to Mayor Jordan Hanson and he put her in contact with MADC. The Barleans met with MADC about a week later.
Lauritsen told them about plans for the industrial park, which included a retention pond.
“They could basically do whatever,” Josh Barlean said. “Not only are we going to have noise, but now we're going to have a giant swamp next to our campground for all the mosquitoes to feast on our campers.”
When asked if there were plans for a sound or visual barrier, Lauritsen offered to plant trees, and said he wanted to be a good neighbor, according to Josh Barlean.
“We provide a pretty good service for something that's needed here in Mitchell, and then, depending on what they put over there, it very well could end us,” Josh Barlean said.
“I'm not going to speculate into the future of what may happen,” said Lauritsen, who also heads the Chamber of Commerce. “We want them to be successful. To be honest with you, I think they will be.”
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Dakota Campground could benefit from the industrial park if the city of Mitchell paved Spruce Street in front of the campground and the MADC brought city sewer to the campsite, Josh Barlean said. Lauritsen said he couldn't commit to that.
The proposed industrial park is outside of Mitchell city limits. The city’s policy for bringing sewer and water to an area outside of city limits includes annexation. Annexation requires an act of the Mitchell City Council, according to City Planner Mark Jenniges.
Infrastructure for the industrial park will cost MADC $3.1 million and includes water, sewer, electrical, and roads. That cost doesn't include the price of the land purchase. Once a business buys a lot within the park, MADC will be able to start paying off the loan, which is a $1 million loan for 10 years at 0% interest.
MADC has said most of its funding is tied up into the industrial park. That has been a sore spot recently for local developer Justin Thiesse, who has sought funding from MADC for infrastructure work for a lakeshore development with a senior living center.
Josh Barlean believes that the Dakota Campground does more for the Mitchell economy now than an industrial park will later.
“I've always thought that Mitchell's motto was tourism,” Josh Barlean said. “People spend money in Mitchell to benefit our Mitchell citizens and I don't think they realize how much a campground does that.”
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