HURON — Work to place large boulders in the James River below the Third Street dam is going very well, a field inspector for Stockwell Engineers of Sioux Falls said Monday. Stockwell is a consultant on the project.
Dexter Mahrt told the City Commission in a project update that Olson Construction of Huron began the work a week ago. The boulders are designed to eliminate the dangerous, deadly undertow below the dam. The project area is between the dam and the bridge.
Work began on the east side of the river and is steadily moving to the west.
The project hasn’t been hampered by bad weather to this point, although snow is in the forecast for the end of the week.
Mahrt showed the progress of the work with a series of photographs.
“I’m really excited about this project,” Mayor Paul Aylward said after the presentation.
Meanwhile, the commission announced that city offices will be closed and the board won’t meet next Monday in observance of the Martin Luther King Jr. holiday.

The Monday garbage and recycling routes will be collected on Wednesday, Jan. 23. Containers should be out Tuesday night as the trucks will not be rerouted.
Commissioners approved a request from Joel Nagel to forgive $1,085 in liens against property at 206 Iowa Ave. S.E. Nagel said he has an offer from Huron Housing to purchase the property.
The liens are for mowing done by the city between 2000 and 2004.
There is also a $931.59 special assessment against the property for the repair of a curb stop in 2018, but commissioners didn’t approve the release of that obligation.
Commissioners also:
• Set Feb. 4 as a public hearing date to consider a request from the Huron School District to vacate alleys at the site of the Huron Arena to improve safety.
• Approved a raffle request and alcoholic beverage consumption in a public area requested by the Prairie Heartland chapter of the Rocky Mountain Elk Foundation on Feb. 23 at the Huron Event Center.
• Approved a raffle request from the Huron Regional Medical Center Foundation for March 23 at the Huron Event Center.
• Reappointed Glenda Oakley to the Community Garden Committee.
• Accepted a $43,948 bid from Kibble Equipment of Huron to purchase a compact utility tractor for the Huron Parks and Recreation Department. The bid is off of a Sourcewell contract. The new tractor will replace a 1994 model.
• Approved first reading of a supplemental appropriation ordinance.
• Authorized the police department to apply for up to $52,000 in Homeland Security grant for body armor and mobile radios.