County OKs tabled alcohol licenses

The Custer County Commission at its Dec. 27 meeting approved five alcoholic beverage license applications for Regency Custer State Park Ventures, but not before telling representatives of Regency the reason for tabling the licenses in the first place—as a way to get the attention of the State of South Dakota and perhaps enlist Regency’s help in its quest to get more money from the state for services provided to the park.
The commission has made it known for the past few months it is unhappy with what it says is a lopsided relationship with the state, and in particular Custer State Park. The commission has railed against the Custer County taxpayer money spent providing emergency services—with fire protection, search and rescue and law enforcement at the top of that list—in Custer State Park, while only receiving around $8,600 for each entity (and dispatch) in return. The commission said that money does not scratch the surface of the money spent providing those services. Wear and tear on county roads used to get into the park has also been mentioned. The state has given money in varying amounts to help with magnesium chloride on those roads.
Josh Schmaltz, president and CEO of Ramkota Companies, was present at the meeting, as well as Ryan Flick, director of operations.
Schmaltz said he wanted to clarify the liquor licenses are owned by Regency Custer State Park Ventures, the concessionaire for the park for the past 17 years.
“They are owned by a private entity. I understand the situation (the county has with the state) but I’m a little confused as to why we are here today,” he said. “I didn’t hear about this situation until it hit the streets. At no point in time did a commissioner or someone reach out to me and say ‘this is what is going on.’ That was a little concerning. I don’t understand why a private business is being dragged into the middle of what is going on with the state and the county.”
Commissioner Mike Linde told Schmaltz it was him who made the motion to table the licenses at the commission’s previous meeting, reiterating the county is providing services to the park and “getting very, very little for it.”
Linde said some of those calls are to the Custer State Park dormitories, where many Regency employees are housed during the summer, for “drunken fights, this and that.”
“They (the state) doesn’t seem to want to deal with us,” Linde said. “Maybe you would have a little better chance of having them come to the table than we do.”
Linde said while the concessionaire doesn’t own the buildings it operates out of in the park, it does make money off the liquor sales, and those sales can cause problems the Custer County Sheriff’s Office responds to.
“We’re just hoping you can maybe mention something to the administration that maybe it’s time to step up a little bit more,” he said.
Schmaltz said he does not have a say in the compensation or lack thereof the county receives from the park, but said he would “does his best” to relay the message to the state.
Schmaltz added he has a couple of businesses in town, and Regency does its best to purchase everything it needs in Custer, to the tune of over $1 million in business with local companies.
“I do everything I possibly can to keep my spending local,” he said. “I just want that to be recognized.”
Schmaltz and Flick, when asked by sheriff Marty Mechaley, both said the company has security that works large wedding receptions. Schmaltz also acknowledged there has been issues at the dorms, but said the company spends thousands on background checks for employees.
“We don’t sell alcohol to our employees, we don’t serve them at the bar,” he said. “They are probably coming into Custer to get their alcohol. We try our best to limit what shenanigans go on out there, but sometimes it happens.”
“We realize that,” Linde said. “But my taxes go up because Custer State Park isn’t paying anything.”