HOT SPRINGS - Once again, the focus of the Fall River County Commission meeting was roads. The lengthiest discussion involved residents of Sheps Canyon, who filled the courtroom on August 6 to express their frustration over the hazards on their six-mile-long stretch of dirt and gravel.
The Commissioners listened to their complaints for close to an hour, with road resident Jeannine Lecy reading from “two petitions with 122 signatories” sent to the Commission and to the State. Lecy cited speeding motorists and the lack of promised chip-sealing of the road as primary concerns.
The most dangerous times, she said, are Friday and Sunday afternoons when visitors using the road to access the State Recreation Area at Angostura Reservoir are coming and going. “We’ve been trying to get the sheriff’s deputies” to enforce the speed limit, she said. “And there’s no oil, no chip seal” to mitigate the clouds of dust that contribute to the road’s dangers.
Sheriff Lyle Norton acknowledged that he gets a little “defensive” when his department is criticized, perhaps unjustly, saying he did not have the manpower to monitor the road constantly. He asked for a show of hands for how many in the audience were road residents, and most in the room raised their arms. Then he asked how many had called in a complaint when they witnessed a violation, and one arm tentatively rose.
Norton suggested that the next time residents observed someone speeding or driving dangerously, and they can get a license plate number, they should call dispatch. If they sign a complaint, along with the responding deputy, charges against the driver can be made.
Road resident Deb Kavanaugh rose to complain about a recent incident, when someone sped past her in a cloud of dust and gravel, which did $3,390 worth of damage to her car, according to the estimate she said the sheriff’s office had told her to obtain.
Mark Posthumus from the Waters Edge subdivision noted the situation has worsened with recent expansion of the recreation area run by SD Fish, Game and Parks. “They are outstanding recreation sites,” but that is why Friday afternoons and Sunday afternoons are so busy. “It’s one of the highest-used roads in the county.”
Road resident Jane Dalbridge detailed how gullies form on the road after rainfalls, forcing drivers into the center of the road. Robin Lecy said he had attempted legislative action to prod the state agency to spend funds for road improvements, not just campground enhancements.
After so many complaints, Mike Duffy with the Cascade Volunteer Fire Department began his pitch for improving the road by smiling, “Isn’t democracy beautiful?”
At the end of meeting, a representative of the Ridge Springs Road subdivision residents, also plagued with speeders — particularly one Custer County resident who continues to drive recklessly despite a letter from State’s Attorney Lance Russell at the Commission’s behest— begged for further assistance. The Commissioners gave her their “blessing” if the subdivision residents want to install speed bumps on the road. They also suggested she call dispatch, as Norton recommended the Sheps Canyon residents do, jointly signing a complaint with a responding deputy.