WALKERVILLE — The town of Walkerville, located just above Butte, has a long and proud history. And now, it has clearly defined boundaries thanks to a recently completed survey ordered by Butte-Silver Bow County.
The order came after a town boundary dispute left dozens of Walkerville residents without ballots in the municipal race last November.
"In my mind, we always were Walkerville but ... I’m happy that it’s gone the way we hoped it would," says Tom Bolton.
Bolton is the Walkerville Volunteer Fire Department chief and a lifelong resident who has voted in every Walkerville election since he turned 18. He and about 30 others on Bennett Street were not able to cast their ballots in the election for the Ward 2 alderperson race between three candidates.
"To go down to vote and be told I don’t live in Walkerville anymore was pretty disheartening for me," says Bolton.
Despite citizens on the southern boundary casting ballots and paying taxes to Walkerville for over 130 years, the state did not recognize the boundary.
"Over the years, we’ve got the maps and they’re all consistent with the southern boundary. So, I was a little confused as to why we had to go through this whole thing, you know? When it had been that way for so long, but this does clear it up and makes it permanent now," says Walkerville Mayor John Ries.
A recent survey ordered by Butte-Silver Bow and paid for through GIS grants found that the town’s boundary was where everyone was expecting it to be.
"It stayed pretty close to when Walkerville first incorporated in 1890. The southern border is between 16th and 17th Street on the west side and on the east side, the border is between Bennet Street and LaPlat Street. So the people on Bennett Street are in Walkerville," says Linda Sajor-Joyce, the Butte-Silver Bow County Clerk and Recorder.
Mayor Ries says the outcome of the election would not have been impacted by the ballots that were not cast with 58 of the votes cast going to Clark Grant for the position of Ward 2 alderperson.
But, Tom Bolton urges citizens to raise questions if they don’t receive the correct ballots.
"You know if you normally vote in something and you don’t get your ballots, you know, make sure you fight it and find out why," says Bolton.
