Lots of news this past week—here’s the rundown:
The week got off to a rough start on Sunday evening, December 10th, when a 700-pound bull moose somehow managed to fall into the window-well of a Ranch resident’s house. The Wyoming Game and Fish Department (WGFD), Lincoln County Sheriff’s Office (LCSO), and Town of Star Valley Ranch (TSVR) Public Works all responded to the scene to try and rescue the animal. Although the moose was retrieved it did not survive the event. The photo below is difficult to look at, however, I am including it as this is a relatively common building feature on homes across the Ranch. WGFD noted there have been other instances of wildlife and family pets falling into, and becoming trapped, in window wells at Star Valley Ranch. After reviewing our Town building codes, I did not see a requirement for window well safety covers; perhaps this is something that should be considered in future.
Photo courtesy of Deputy Kale McGee LCSO. Tuesday, December 12th was a busy day for TSVR. The day got underway at 9am with Coffee with the Mayor followed by the Town Council Work Session at 2pm. A couple of key items from the Work Session:
The Town has recently updated its Snow Removal Policy and you can find the revised document at this link.
The Town continues to work with the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) to determine the source of coliform positive samples in the water system and to work through corrective actions. The next step is implementation of temporary water system chlorination scheduled to begin no later than December 15th. [Note: You can read the email notice sent out by the Town about water chlorination at this link.]
During a trip to Cheyenne last week to meet with the State Loan and Investment Board, the Mayor was able to secure a rate reduction for the Town’s water system loans. The rate for all Town water system loans is now 1%.
The last event of the day for Tuesday, December 12th was the regular Town Council Meeting at 7pm at Town Hall. The firm of Jones-Simkins presented a draft of the Town’s annual financial audit. There were also questions from residents during the citizen comment period about snow removal around fire hydrants, snow plowing, and the status of the Town’s water system corrective actions with the EPA.
Wednesday, December 13th, several TSVR Public Works employees (with assistance from the Town Special Municipal Officer) installed 30 new package lockers at the TSVR Mail Center. The package lockers have been patiently waiting since September for postal service specified locks to arrive before they could be installed.
I am SO happy to see those additional lockers go in. I don’t know about you, however, every time I’ve been to the Thayne Post Office lately it is a guaranteed 25 to 30 minute wait due to the number of folks in line to pick up mail and parcels.
During and after installation photos of the Mail Center's new package lockers.
Also on Wednesday, December 13th at 5pm the TSVR Planning and Zoning (P&Z) Board conducted what will be their only scheduled meeting for this month at Town Hall. You can find the draft minutes from this meeting here. Note that the Town Council will hold an extra Work Session in January to review proposed P&Z ordinance updates.
A few odds and ends for the past week:
Roads have been slick around the Ranch lately. While we haven’t had much new snow it has been cold with sunshine in the afternoons. While the sun is very welcome it does spur melting followed by refreeze leading to icy road conditions in some areas of Town. A Federal Express truck learned the hard way on Tuesday, when trying to drive up Vista East. If you have icy places on your road, please contact Town Hall so they can dispatch a Public Works crew to put down sand/gravel to help mitigate those slippery spots.
[FedEx truck photo courtesy of Jennifer Wasserloos.] The TSVR Public Works crews have also been busy the past week digging out fire hydrants around Town.
Also, this week on Wednesday the Star Valley Ranch Association (SVRA) opened the Cedar Creek Park Ice Skating Rink and also began grooming the front nine of the Cedar Creek Golf Course for cross-county skiing! Yeah! Thanks Kurt and SVRA!
With what has decidedly been a mild winter thus far (especially when compared to this time last year—yikes), there has been a lot of winter wildlife out and about on the Ranch. Check out this handsome fella! Beautiful!
[Photo courtesy of Christopher Rok.] Last note for the week and in case you missed it, TSVR sent out an email notice to residents about the designated winter parking area for the Cedar Creek Trailhead during the winter. You can read the email notice here.
Note that the Trailhead Road is not plowed so look for the signed winter parking area just to the right of the junction of the Trailhead Road and Cedar Creek Drive. If that area is full, park at the Cedar Creek Pool parking lot. Thanks!
Finally, here are a couple of Star Valley Ranch calendar items for next week:
Tuesday, December 19th at 6pm the SVRA Board of Directors (BoD) will hold their monthly workshop at Cedar Creek Center.
Thursday, December 21st at 7pm, the SVRA BoD will Conduct their monthly board meeting at Cedar Creek Center.
Thank you very much for reading! I appreciate your support and if you like what you read please invite your neighbors, family and friends to check out Close to Home 307. Reach me anytime at: close2home307@gmail.com
Hey, not sure if you remember me, but I was one of your guides at Yellowstone a few weeks ago! Katie, I brought you out of the park (from Old Faithful to Mammoth!) That moose story is so sad :( I love your pictures though!!