SOUTH FORK—According to South Fork Town Administrator Dan Hicks, the town has finalized votes for the 2018 spring election and broken the tie between Becki Helmstetler and Michele Cruse. Hicks explained that by following election protocol the town did a coin flip between the two parties and Cruse won. It is rare to come across a tie during an election and usually the ties are resolved through easy, fair tie breakers like a coin toss.

Cruse has been a long-time visitor to the area and decided to move to South Fork permanently to retire. Cruse comes to the board with a degree in marketing and hopes to stay in contact with her constituents. During the open forum held last month, Cruse advocated the need to be involved in the community as a board member and her love of the town and what it is capable of. Cruse stated that her main goal is to get the community more involved in the town’s government and to listen to the community and their needs.

The town board will be swearing in four trustee: Tyler Schmidt, owner of Two Rivers BBQ; Sarah Stephens, marketing director for Wolf Creek Ski Resort; Jim Patterson, an information technological specialist and Cruse. Current Mayor Rodney Reed was re-elected to his position and will be sworn in as well.

The town is currently working on getting their marketing plan in place and actively focusing on bringing people to the area. The new board members all share one thing in common and that is to see that the town moves forward into the future and to help in any way possible to see that the town continues to grow.