[DISCLAIMER: The “SVR News Roundup” is the personal newsletter of the author and is not an official publication of the Town of Star Valley Ranch or the Star Valley Ranch Association. The SVR News Roundup provides a weekly summary of publicly available information and also occasionally includes opinion and commentary by the author.]
For the last full week of the month, here’s your SVR News Roundup that began on Sunday, March 23rd, 2025:
Tuesday, March 25th at 4pm the Town of Star Valley Ranch (TSVR) Planning Commission held a special meeting at Town Hall to consider a conditional use for the imminent sale of the red barn commercial lot on the north side of Vista Drive. Here’s a link to the agenda and a few notes:
Storage of garage doors inside of the barn is the conditional use proposed for the property. Note that the vintage 1971 red barn has been used for a number of purposes in the past to include storage of various items.
The town’s conditional use permitting process is still a work in progress and given the short timeframe for consideration of this item, the Planning Commission opted not to make a recommendation to the Town Council.
The Commission did discuss bounding the conditional use by measures to include storage only being allowed inside of the barn, the need for a site plan if any driveway modifications are required, and the need for the owner to adhere to all existing town codes.
Wednesday, March 26th at 8am the TSVR Town Council held a work session at Town Hall. This was a lengthy meeting folks—here’s a link to the agenda along with some highlights of the discussions:
The Town Administrator, Treasurer, and Councilman Bitter presented the first draft of the TSVR Fiscal Year 2025-2026 Budget.
The Town Council discussed the sale of the red barn commercial property on Vista Drive and the need to finalize a Conditional Use Permit for the new owner. The Town Council will revisit this topic during their April 8th work session.
After considering the case made by the Mid-Valley Fire District Fire Chief earlier in the month, the Town Council voted to approve gated emergency access only from the Mountain Estates development onto Vista West Drive. A letter, to include contingencies and conditions of approval, will be forthcoming from the town to the Lincoln County Commissioners.
Also on Wednesday at 5pm, the TSVR Planning Commission held their second regular meeting of the month at Town Hall. You can find the agenda here. The Commission approved a lot combination, discussed some pending ordinance changes, and also received an update from the Chairman on the previous day’s Town Council’s work session discussion of the red barn commercial property conditional use. The Planning Commission will also begin reviewing revisions to the TSVR Master Plan Update next month.
Thursday, March 27th at 1pm the TSVR Finance Advisory Board met at Town Hall. Here is a link to the agenda. The two main discussion topics were review of the town’s investment options and a deep dive into the first draft of the TSVR Fiscal Year 2025-2026 Budget.
Also on Thursday, at 2:30pm the TSVR Water Utility Board met at Town Hall. You can find the agenda at this link. The highlight of this meeting was a demonstration and walk-through of the Supervisory Control And Data Acquisition (SCADA) system by one of the town’s water operators. The SCADA system monitors and controls functionality of the town’s water system.
Other news and notes for the week:
By week’s end, the sale of the old red barn commercial lot at the corner of Vista Drive and Muddy String Road was finalized.
Two updates were posted to the TSVR News & Notices webpage this week; here’s a quick summary of both with direct links:
Thursday, March 27th, this update advised residents that budget season is underway and also provided links to the first draft documents of the TSVR Fiscal Year 2025-2026 Budget. [Note: first reading of the budget will occur during the April 8th regular Town Council meeting.]
Also on Thursday, the Town Administrator posted this update and advised residents that sandbags and sand are available to residents in the event of spring flooding.
Earlier in the week, a radio interview I conducted with the Star Valley Independent (SVI) was posted on the SVI website. The brief interview (given in my capacity as your Mayor) provides an update from our March Town Council meeting. I’ve imbedded the interview’s audio file below in case folks are interested.
Snow was cleared this week from the Middle Branch Bridge work site in preparation for completion of that effort in the next two weeks (weather permitting).
It is starting to look like a bonafide creek-crossing bridge! The Star Valley Ranch Association also worked this week to clear snow off the road from Ridgecrest Drive that leads to the clubhouse.
I wonder if that’s Ernie out there on the tractor? And, on Saturday, this notice was emailed to Town residents providing information on how to sign-up for the upcoming Crop Circles Community Garden season.
As for calendar items, I’ve looked high and low, however, I cannot find any to apprise you of for next week. Hopefully I haven’t just overlooked something!
Final thoughts—Has anyone noticed that the Star Valley Ranch Resort RV Park sign is missing? You know, the one at the intersection of Cedar Creek Road and Muddy String Road at the RV Park entrance that says “Wyoming - The Way America Used to Be”. My understanding is the removal of the old entranceway sign is just temporary as moisture split the poles and so a new one should be going in sometime fairly soon. Phew! That was a close one! I would have been so disappointed if there were no plans to replace it. That sign is so iconic (kind of like the red barn at the entrance to town). Some things are just meant to stay the way they are. Does that mean I’m resistant to change? Perhaps sometimes I am, however, I’d wager most of us have that streak on occasion. And, with that—enjoy the rest of your Sunday!
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