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For the week of June 23rd, 2024—here’s a rundown of Ranch happenings:
Tuesday, June 25th at 2pm the Town of Star Valley Ranch (TSVR) Natural Resources Board (NRB) met at Town Hall. At least that’s what the Town public calendar says. Unfortunately, there is no agenda or draft minutes posted. Bummer.
Also on Tuesday, June 25th at 7pm the TSVR Town Council held a Special Meeting at 7pm. Here’s a link to the agenda and also a link to the meeting packet. The Town also provided notice of the Special Meeting and its topic (Plat 22, Lot 37) via an email send the preceding day (you can read the email here). After being called to order, per the agenda, the meeting went immediately into Executive Session in order for the Council to confer with the Town Attorney.
The Executive Session lasted nearly an hour which, per my understanding, made some residents unhappy and they departed the meeting before the Council returned. Once the Council returned and reconvened the Special Meeting, they went immediately to action on the motion and resolution to purchase Plat 22, Lot 37 (both of which were unanimously approved). The motion to condemn the property was removed from the agenda for consideration at a future date.
As I noted in the week of June 9th SVR News Roundup misalignment of the Town road onto Lot 37 along with Town water infrastructure being located on the private property were the drivers behind the Town ultimately deciding to purchase the lot. Alternative actions were deemed too expensive to pursue.
Wednesday, June 26th at 5pm the TSVR Planning and Zoning (P&Z) Board met at Town Hall. Here’s a link to draft minutes from the meeting. It was a pretty straightforward affair with approval of a new single-family home (SFH) permit, a couple of SFH permit and temporary occupancy extensions, approval of permits for a roof, a deck, a driveway, and an accessory building. There was continued discussion of a request for variance for installation of solar panels on a residence. Some additional information is still required before P&Z makes a determination on the approval of this variance.
Friday, June 28th from 9am to 1pm was War on Weeds Day at Star Valley Ranch (SVR). Lincoln County Weed and Pest (LCWP) along with representatives from TSVR’s NRB were on site at the First Response Center (on the corner of Vista Drive and Vista West Drive) assisting residents in the fight against noxious weeds. I hope you had a chance to stop by especially if noxious weeds are a problem on your property! In coordination with War on Weeds Day, roadside weed spraying also took place across SVR earlier in the week in order to try and keep those pesky weeds at bay! Thank you LCWP and NRB for conducting this annual event!
Other news and notes from the week:
After many years of waiting, there is now asphalt on Brambleberry Drive! HK Contractors were putting finishing touches on the project at the end of the week. HK also installed the new entrance into the Town Hall parking lot from Vista Drive.
On Monday, the Star Valley Ranch Association (SVRA) published a corrected ballot summary from last week’s annual Board of Directors (BoD) election. It seems the total number of ballots received was incorrectly documented in the earlier ballot summary that was published.
The corrected 2024 SVRA BoD election results form is on the right. Also on Monday, SVRA began work on the Aspen Hills Park and Gazebo Project which will provide additional communal green space for the community.
Work has begun on the new Aspen Hills Park and Gazebo! A note I missed including last week, however, one many of you may be happy to read—the first of three public notices seeking invitations to bid on replacement of the Middle Branch Bridge was published last week. Hurray! Read the second publication notice here in this week’s Star Valley Independent [see page 25A].
Lastly, it seems TSVR will be seeking a new Public Works Director. I don’t have many details on this development, however, I’ll keep folks posted as more information becomes available.
Here’s a look at calendar items for next week:
Tuesday, July 2nd at 2:30pm the TSVR Travel & Tourism Board will meet at Town Hall.
Also on Tuesday, July 2nd at 6pm the TSVR Roads Advisory Board will meet at Town Hall.
Thursday, July 4th the TSVR Town Hall will be closed in observance of Independence Day.
Also on Thursday, July 4th at 7:30am the SVRA will host an Independence Day Celebration at Cedar Creek Park. Don’t miss it!
Final thoughts—I hope everyone had a good week and for the week ahead I wish you all a wonderful Independence Day holiday! We are all so very fortunate to live in this great and bountiful nation. Take some time on July 4th to reflect on the sacrifices of those brave men and women who risked all to found the United States of America. With that, I leave you with this quote from John Adams:
"Liberty can no more exist without virtue and independence than the body can live and move without a soul."
That’s all for today—thank you for reading. If you have Star Valley Ranch news 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 is very much appreciated!
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