Troy vote final: Second Street sale defeated

With all Lincoln County votes counted and tallied, the west end of Second Street in Troy that intersects with Highway 2 will not be sold to Town Pump, after the ballot initiative was defeated by three votes.

There also is no chance of a recount, said Lincoln County Election Administrator Leigh Riggleman.

In order for a vote to be eligible for a recount in Montana, the difference must be less than 0.25 percent, she said. With 411 votes cast on the issue and 413 total ballots cast in precinct 7 — the precinct for the City of Troy — the three-vote difference comes to .73 percent.

In order to be eligible for a recount, the difference would have had to be a single vote.

Riggleman said she confirmed with the Montana Secretary of State’s Office that the vote is not eligible for a recount.

Troy Mayor Dallas Carr said Wednesday that he had heard some people discuss drawing up a petition for a recount.

Such a petition would not make a difference, Riggleman said.

Carr said that he was disappointed to see the issue fail, and he wonders if some in favor of the sale did not vote because they assumed it would pass no matter what they did.

As of Thursday, Carr had not reached out to or been contacted by Town Pump, he said.

Town Pump has not yet responded to emails from The Western News seeking comment on their plans after the vote.

The Troy City Council did not have a work meeting on November 14, but will have their regular meeting on Wednesday, Nov. 21, said Troy City Clerk/Treasurer Tracy Rebo.

There is no plan to discuss the Second Street vote at the regular meeting, Carr said. The agenda for the meeting will be finalized and distributed Monday.

However, issues not on the agenda are frequently focused on during the public comment portion of the council’s meetings. The question of whether or not to sell a portion of Second Street to Town Pump has been regularly revisited and debated during that portion of meetings over the past several months.

During the Oct. 17 council meeting, a group of local residents objected to the words “has sold” in the explanation that accompanied the ballot question. Several even proposed that the wording could sway the vote in favor of the sale, and that the vote would be invalid.

None of those in objection offered an immediate response when council member TJ Boswell asked if they would come back to object if the vote went against the sale.

At the end of the meeting, though, Second Street resident Celeste White said that her concerns went deeper than the sale of a portion of Second Street, which she opposes.

The discussion had spun around the timeline and process for how the ballot came to be worded, and many questions about those things were repeated with no sign of satisfaction for those raising them. White said she was concerned about transparency and that it was now a moral issue separate from how the vote came out.

A recurring sticking point that came up during council meetings since a vote was first discussed is the lack of input from those living near to but outside the City of Troy.

Only residents living in the city limits were able to vote on the sale. The council did request that all residents within the 295 area be permitted to vote on the question, but the Lincoln County Election Office informed them that only city residents were legally allowed to vote on the question.

Carr recalled to those individuals Wednesday.

Whether they are business owners who play significant roles in the life of the city but don’t live there, or residents who conduct most of their business and even day-to-day lives in and around Troy, a lot of people who are an integral part of Troy had no say in the vote, he said.

“I feel bad for all those people — against or for — they still didn’t have a choice in this matter,” he said. “They help this town get by and deserve a voice.”