Crossroads road vote falls short of tally target

A proposal for a special $600-a-lot assessment to accelerate road repairs in the Crossroads community has failed. The official vote tally was 79 yes to 53 no, short of a two-thirds required approval of 88 votes, according to Dorene Fisher, chair of the Crossroads Property Owners Association’s Board of Directors.

The vote was taken at a special meeting held February 19 at Sisters Community Church. Some 99 people attended the meeting representing 133 votes in person or by assigned proxy.

Approval of the assessment would have provided $119,400 for repairing most of the 4.1 miles of private roads in Crossroads. The community is located three miles west of Sisters off Highway 242.

“The board was very pleased with the attendance by property owners and their interest in discussing what we were proposing,” Fisher said. “The outcome of this vote will be on our agenda at the next board meeting in March.”

Those supporting the assessment stated that road repair costs will continue to increase, the current rate of road repairs will take many years to cover the road system, and maintaining good roads is a wise investment.

Those opposed were concerned about their ability to pay, suggested that repair work could be done on a smaller scale over a period of time and questioned the need for the project.