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Here’s a rundown of happenings at the Ranch for the week of January 12th, 2025:
Monday, January 13th, we were treated to the first full moon of 2025, known as the Wolf Moon. While I didn’t get any photos, I thought I’d share this one taken by Bill Hall and obtained through the Facebook Group Wyoming Through the Lens. Beautiful!
Tuesday, January 14th, a 9am Coffee with the Mayor got the day started at Town Hall followed by a Town of Star Valley Ranch (TSVR) Town Council Work Session at 10am. Here’s a link to the agenda along with a couple of notes:
At the start of the meeting, the Mountain Estates subdivision developer, Dirk Izatt (Bucket List LLC), provided a brief overview of the project and a preliminary request to the Town Council for access from the subdivision onto Vista West Drive. [Mountain Estates is the controversial development north of Prater Canyon Road on the east side of Muddy String Road.]
The Town Council deferred on making a decision on Mr. Izatt’s request pending receipt of additional information to include an updated impact assessment from the Town Engineer.
The Chairman of the TSVR Travel and Tourism Board presented information to the Town Council on the board’s new grant application process as well as possible projects to be funded by lodging tax revenues.
At 2pm on Tuesday, the TSVR Municipal Court was in session upstairs at Town Hall. Only one case (to adjudicate a citation for pushing snow across the road) was on the docket; the case was dismissed due to conflicting evidence. This was also the last court session with Judge Ronald McKim on the bench. Judge McKim has opted to retire after serving the town for the past 10 years. Thank you Judge McKim!
At 7pm, the regular monthly Town Council meeting was held at Town Hall. Here is a link to the meeting packet and you can also watch a video recording of the proceedings here on the Town’s YouTube page. To follow are a handful of notes:
The meeting was well-attended by residents. During the public comment portion of the agenda residents voiced concerns with the Mountain Estates subdivision, and also commented mostly positively about the Town’s snow-plowing efforts thus far for the season.
The item on the agenda that generated the most public interest came during the reading of the new proposed ordinance requiring bear-proof trash containers in some areas of town. Some half-dozen residents voiced questions, comments, and concerns about the impact of this new proposed regulation. Ultimately, the Town Council opted to postpone a vote on the ordinance until the March Town Council meeting pending receipt of additional information that can also be made available to the public.
On Thursday, January 16th, at 1pm I participated via video conference in a Lincoln County Transportation Master Plan (TMP) Stakeholder Meeting. The stakeholder group, which has been meeting for about the past 6 months, is formulating this update to the TMP as a long-term strategy that outlines the development, management, and improvement of the county's transportation network. The latter includes roads, trails, and public transit. With an eye toward projected county population growth of 7,500 new residents by 2040, the updated TMP will aim to enhance mobility, safety, and accessibility to accommodate future travel demands while prioritizing funding for future projects. You can learn more about the Lincoln County TMP effort by visiting the consultant’s website at this link.
Also on Thursday at 2pm, the TSVR Natural Resources Board met at Town Hall. Apologies as I did not have this listed as an upcoming calendar event in last week’s SVR News Roundup report. Nonetheless, despite no agenda being posted on the Town website yet, it’s my understanding this was a relatively short and uneventful meeting.
And, one more note from Thursday, at 7pm a Neighborhood Watch meeting was held at the Three Canyons Restaurant event room. This was a privately coordinated event and I was not able to attend. If any readers did participate, I’d be interested in hearing some feedback. Thanks!
Other news and notes for the week:
Some of you may have noticed the large crane at the Middle Branch Bridge replacement job site was removed this week. While a good deal of work was accomplished, due to weather and the unexpected water line complication I mentioned last week, the project will not be completed until the spring. In the meantime, the Middle Branch Bridge crossing remains closed to vehicle traffic.
TSVR is looking for community board volunteers! See this email notice sent out by the town on Wednesday of this week for more information.
On Friday, January 17th, the TSVR repeated an email to residents soliciting letters of interest for the soon-to-be vacant Town Council seat. You can take a look at the email here and please consider submitting a letter if you’ve ever considered getting more involved with our community. Thanks!
I neglected to mention this last week, however, you may recall prior to the holidays there was a petition circulating to stop construction of a mega-storage unit complex outside of Etna (Lincoln County Planning & Zoning Commission file 111-CUP-24). [I first reported on this in the week of 3 November 2024 SVR News Roundup.] Well, after the Lincoln County Commissioners (LCC) denied approval of 111-CUP-24 back in November, the developer appealed the decision. That appeal was heard and once again denied by the LCC on January 9th, 2025. For now it would appear the petition supporters have won. Stay tuned.
Here are calendar items I’m aware of for next week:
Monday, January 20th the TSVR Town Hall will be closed in observance of the Martin Luther King Junior Day holiday.
Tuesday, January 21st for those of you who may be interested, the Jackson Hole Wildlife Foundation will conduct a Winter Nature Mapping course for Star Valley. The class will be held in Alpine from 6pm to 8pm.
Please email jessie@jhwildlife.org for more information.
Wednesday, January 22nd, at 4pm the TSVR Planning Commission will meet at Town Hall.
Final thoughts—Wowza! It sure has been cold outside this week! I’ve seen -2°F at my house in recent days and tonight is supposed to be super-cold. And, by that I mean sub-zero, like arctic kind of cold. My weather station is predicting -25°F overnight! I kid you not! I would be very interested to hear how cold the early part of next week is at your house as according to the National Weather Service (NWS) Riverton, we’re in for at least another couple of days of super-cold. Stay warm and safe out there folks!
That’s all for today—hope you enjoyed the read. And thank you for being a subscriber! If you have Star Valley Ranch news or photographs to share, please drop me an email at close2home307@gmail.com. And, if you find this weekly email useful, please invite your neighbors, family, and friends to check out Close to Home 307. Your support and feedback are very much appreciated!
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