[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.]
Here’s your Ranch news roundup for the week of April 6th, 2025:
Tuesday April 8th at 9am the week got off to a running start with a well-attended Coffee with the Mayor at Town Hall. A Town Council work session followed at 10am. Here’s a link to the work session agenda along with a few notes:
The Town of Star Valley Ranch (TSVR) is planning to conduct two Firewise pick-ups in 2025—one in late spring and another during the fall; dates to be announced.
The Town Council discussed the TSVR Fiscal Year 2025-2026 Budget and the likelihood that some of the capital projects currently contained in the first reading draft will need to be reprioritized.
Representatives from the Friends of the Bridger-Teton National Forest (FBTNF) and Greys River Collaborative answered questions and offered support for a FBTNF Lodging Tax Grant application submitted to the TSVR Travel & Tourism (T&T) Board.
The grant, if approved, would fund two FBTNF trail ambassadors this summer. The ambassadors would split their time between Grover Park and the Star Valley Ranch trail system. The T&T Board recommended the Town Council approve the FBTNF Lodging Tax Grant application.
The Town Council discussed the Conditional Use Permit (CUP) application from Viking Development (the new owner of the red barn commercial lot at the corner of Vista Drive and Muddy String Road). The Council agreed on conditions of approval for the CUP and will add the matter to the regular Town Council meeting for a vote.
Also on Tuesday at 2pm, the TSVR Municipal Court was in session upstairs at Town Hall. Two cases were on the docket. One resulted in a $600 fine being issued for operation of a Short-Term Rental property without a permit and a second case, for parking on a town road, was continued to the May court session.
At 7pm on Tuesday evening the Town Council conducted their regular meeting for the month of April. Here’s a link to the meeting packet and you can also watch the entire proceedings via this video link on the TSVR YouTube page. Here are a handful of quick notes from the meeting:
The Town Council voted to approve the first reading of the TSVR Fiscal Year 2025-2026 Budget.
The Town Council voted to approve the FBTNF Lodging Tax Grant application.
The Town Council passed a resolution placing a 240-day moratorium on cryptocurrency mining operations within the TSVR.
Lastly, the Town Council voted to approve the CUP application from Viking Development.
On Wednesday, April 9th, the TSVR Planning Commission met at Town Hall. You can find the meeting agenda here. The Commissioners discussed the Mountain Estates subdivision and the potential for an annexation application to be submitted to the town by the developer. Note, there currently is no annexation application from the Mountain Estates developer. The Commissioners also discussed upcoming and future building code changes as well as the Bridger Mountain commercial lots just south of Vista Drive outside of the town boundary. Finally, the TSVR Building Official advised the Commission that thus far in 2025, 20 new single-family home permits are being processed at Town Hall. Wow!
Other news and notes for the week:
Several TSVR news bulletins were posted to the News & Notices webpage this week. The first announced the upcoming TSVR Spring Clean-Up dates, the second gave an update on the Middle Branch Bridge and Hardman Bridge construction projects, and the third announced the Middle Branch Bridge finally reopening for vehicle traffic! Woot, woot!
After being closed since 2022, the Middle Branch Bridge is finally open again! On Thursday, the SVR Trail Crew posted a notice on their Facebook page about an upcoming "Certified Nature Mapper" training class to be hosted by TSVR on Thursday, April 24th from 6:30pm to 8:30pm (upstairs at Town Hall). If you’re interested in conservation and like documenting wildlife sightings, this class is for you! The course and mapping program are run by the Jackson Hole Wildlife Foundation who uses the data collected to aide in placing wildlife crossings, encourage wildlife friendly fencing, promote wildlife warning signage, and other types of wildlife conservation efforts. To sign-up for this course, please email “Jessie” at: jessie@jhwildlife.org
I’ll post information on this class again next week, however, in the meantime if you’re interested you must contact Jessie to register and to receive information on how to download the Nature Mapping Application. See you there folks!
Here are calendar items for next week:
Thursday, April 17th at 2pm the TSVR Natural Resources Board will meet at Town Hall.
Also on Thursday at 7pm, the Star Valley Ranch Association (SVRA) will hold a Board of Directors meeting at Cedar Creek Center.
Saturday, April 19th at 10am, the SVRA will host an Easter Egg Hunt at Cedar Creek Center for children 9 and under.
Final thoughts—today is Palm Sunday, the first day of Holy Week and the Sunday before Easter. The ceremony of Palm Sunday dates back to 4th century Jerusalem. In these ancient times, palm fronds symbolized goodness, honor, and victory. Today, Palm Sunday continues as a time of celebration for Christians all over the world. As I puttered about in my greenhouse today I was exhilarated to see how quickly some of my early plantings are coming along. The leafy green fronds of arugula, spinach, tatsoi, and beets were all eagerly reaching skyward. Seems rather fitting given the history of this beautiful day. I hope everyone had as wonderful a day as I did and I wish you all the best for the week ahead.
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