Letters to the Editor

Dear Editor,

I read the letter in the March 28 Sundance Times today from Mr. Akola. He’s whining about not getting his road plowed at taxpayer expense.

Everyone buying property in Crook County needs to do their homework before buying, just like all other aspects of buying a home. Does the property have water and sewer service, does it have electricity to the property, does it have natural gas, does it have cable, does it have Internet service and, lastly, is the access road to the property plowed by the county?

All of these will affect the value and usage of the property. To buy property and then in retrospect complain that it doesn’t have any of these services shows improper research.

Should Mr. Akola demand cable to his house? Or city water? How about electricity to the property? It cost me $30K to bring power to my property when I bought it 18 years ago. Or should I have complained to the commissioners that the county provide it?

Such is rural living. It’s not the city. Get over it.

Mac Frank

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Dear Editor,

Members of the Hulett Moore Hill Cemetery Board met recently for a reorganizational meeting. The current board members are Dale Wood, Alan Ista, Allie Spangler and Hannah Ista.

The existing school house was built in the early 1900s and it has been noted that at this time some major repairs are needed including new siding.

Anyone wishing to assist with this project may do so by contacting one of the board members.

Thank you for any help you may wish to contribute.

Sincerely,

Moore Hill Cemetery Board Members

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Dear Editor,

I am writing this letter in response to Mr. Akola’s letter to the editor dated March 28 2024. In his letter Mr. Akola stated I am writing this letter in regards to Crook County Commissioners, who have demonstrated very little knowledge of their duties and responsibilities to the taxpayers of Crook County.”

Mr. Akola, I disagree with you. The Crook County Commissioners are doing exactly what they were voted in by Crook County voters to do. The Crook County Commissioners were voted in to protect the taxpayers of Crook County and that is what they are doing by denying taking on more county roads and putting the burden of maintaining these unmaintained roads onto the taxpayers. 

Mr. Akola, I believe that the people who are not doing their job are the people moving into the county buying property and not doing a thorough job of researching what they are buying. Before people purchase property, they need to do some research to see for one if they have legal access to their property and if that access is a maintained or non maintained road.

If they find out that the county road is a non maintained county road they do have some options for their next steps. 

1) Do not purchase the property.

2) They can approach the County Commissioners along with the Road and Bridge supervisor to inquire about getting the unmaintained county road changed into a maintained road. If told no, ONCE, there are other options that they can do. 

3) Approach the other landowners on the unmaintained road and see if they want to start a HOA, have HOA fees and pay to have the unmaintained road maintained at the homeowners’ expense.

4) Budget for it and have a plan to maintain your own non maintained road. 

Just because someone decides to purchase property on an unmaintained road before doing some research, it is not the taxpayers’ obligation to take on this extra expense. The people who are purchasing the property need to take on the responsibility to maintain the road at their own expense and not try to pass along that expense onto the already financially stressed taxpayers of the county as the rest of us do that live on an unmaintained street or road. 

Thank you