Staff writer
In a decision deemed the lesser of two evils, the County Commission voted to keep the addresses in the Wildin Subdivision at the county lake the same, with the caveat that residents will be required to make their addresses visible from the road on both Lakeshore Drive and Lois Lane.
There had been debate over whether the Lakeshore Drive houses should become Lois Lane addresses, which is where commissioners were leaning before experiencing pushback in a previous meeting.
The commission recently recommended that residents provide illuminated signage indicating their address. When the commission decided instead to change the addresses, some residents complained. Planning and Zoning Director Tonya Richards said one resident’s $400 carved rock signage had been made obsolete.
“We want it so that everybody knows where they’re going, that’s all we’re after,” Commissioner Randy Dallke said. “Sorry that this got messed up, but for the future we just wanted to iron it out.”
Emergency service workers had trouble discerning which houses were on Lakeshore Drive and which were on Lois Lane. Mail workers weren’t the ones having trouble with the addresses, Commissioner Dan Holub said, but UPS and FedEx drivers unfamiliar with the area were.
Dallke compared the change in address to moving, as information with residents’ addresses attached would need to change, which would require a lot of work for citizens who have complied with regulations and recommendations.
The commission said residents will have 60 days to indicate their address in a visible area. The commission is requiring signage on both Lakeshore Drive and Lois Lane sides of their houses, and recommending, but not requiring, that said signage be illuminated.
When asked what the consequences would be for those who didn’t illuminate their address, Holub said the county could potentially change their address to Lakeshore Drive addresses.
In other business:
- The commission approved the purchase of higher-priced copy paper because it was American made, not Indonesian made.
- Commissioners approved the employee assistance program at $1 per month per employee, which was the cheapest of three available options.
- County Attorney Susan Robson got commissioners’ approval to put a security keypad on her office door.
- Park and Lake Superintendent Steve Hudson and commissioners discussed potential protocol for delinquent tenants at the Marion County Park and Lake. Commissioners recommended Hudson speak with Robson about legal options.
- Gayland Martens encouraged commissioners to close a section of Bison Rd. near Chisolm Trail Rd., saying he didn’t want to see money wasted on it. He and one neighbor are the only ones who need access to the road, he said, and both are in favor of closing it. The road closure will be discussed next week, a meeting Martens cannot attend because he is heading back to Alaska, where he works, for the summer.