Lane voters decide to keep town incorporated

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LANE — Lane lives.

Voters in this tiny Jerauld County community voted overwhelmingly not to unincorporate Tuesday. The vote to keep Lane alive was 28-9, with 37 of the town’s 49 registered voters casting ballots, a 76 percent turnout.

“I figured it would go this way, or I sure hoped it would,” said Town Board Chairwoman Shirley Hines. The election was sparked by Margaret Schmidt, a Lane resident who felt the $1,200 a year she paid in property taxes wasn’t a good deal. Last summer, Schmidt asked the Town Board to remove her property from the city limits.

When the board declined to do so, Schmidt circulated a petition to put the town’s very existence up for a vote.

Schmidt was unavailable for comment Tuesday night.

Hines said there is no need for hard feelings and she hopes residents can continue to get along and respect differing views. “I hope they just kind of move on,” she said.

The Town Board’s next monthly meeting is in March, Hines said. She said business will continue as before.

Lane was incorporated in 1907, according to the State Historical Society.

Once a bustling community with a school and a strong business community, there are now just a few small businesses in town. A post office is located inside the local cafe.

The population is around 57, Hines said.

When she moved to town in 1968, there were twice as many people and “way back when, there was a lot of people, before there were a lot of fires,” she said.

Hines said she hopes Lane can draw more people who might enjoy life in an uncrowded, friendly town on the prairie. She also hopes there are no more votes to dissolve the town.

“I hope it’s the last time, because it’s kind of a waste of money,” Hines said. The election cost about $700 to $800, it was estimated.

It was held in Mary Jackson’s garage, even though it’s not in the town limits and Jackson isn’t a Lane resident. But the community center where most local events are held is in the basement of an old church and not accessible for people with disabilities, meaning it could not host the election.

So Jackson’s garage was the polling place. It’s been used for other elections over the years, she said, so she’s used to seeing voters come and go. It was an orderly, calm process as people came to cast ballots.

“They just came in and left,” Jackson said. “Very quiet, very orderly.”

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