A quiet and chilly week here at Star Valley Ranch. Here’s a summary of events:
Wednesday, October 25th at 5pm the Town of Star Valley Ranch (TSVR) Planning and Zoning Board held their second meeting of the month at Town Hall. Draft minutes from the meeting can be found here. One item from the minutes caught my attention as there was a question from the building inspector on the status of a pending ordinance update to limit the number of driveway approaches.
The minutes note the final reading of this ordinance change will occur at the November TSVR Council Meeting. The latter may not be accurate as I do not recall the Council moving this particular ordinance change forward as of yet. I’ll double-check the status of this item and provide an update in next week’s Roundup.
Friday, October 27th I went hiking on the Cedar Creek Trail with my husband and a guest who was visiting us from out of town. The morning was cold, and the trail lightly snow-covered when we set out. It was a beautiful hike, and we were not the only ones enjoying the trail; check out the photos below. If you haven’t ventured out on the trails maintained by the TSVR Trail Crew, you really should give them a try. Here’s a link to our local trail map.
We were definitely not the only ones on the trail! Look at those tracks! 
We were so focused on the bear tracks we ran right up on this guy! 
Not the greatest photos, but sure was a spectacular sight to see. Saturday, October 28th starting at 6pm the Star Valley Ranch Association (SVRA) hosted an array of Halloween activities at Cedar Creek Center to include Trunk-or-Treat, karaoke, a movie and games, and a Haunted Barn! Even with the chilly temperatures turn-out was terrific and a good time was had by all.
A spooky image from the SVRA Haunted Barn.
A few other news notes for the week:
The arrival of our first snowfall last Thursday means the Cedar Creek Golf Course is now officially closed for the season. Note that golf course restrooms have been winterized and are no longer available for use.
Grading and compacting of roads continued around town this past week.
The TSVR roller makes a pass along Spruce Drive. Advertisements for the TSVR billing clerk position continued to run during the week and as of press time our understanding is the position remains open.
There’s another pole-barn house going up in town. While our town ordinances currently don’t preclude these particular types of single-family home structures, I wonder if we shouldn’t take a step back and rethink this. My understanding is pole-barn homes are cheaper to build (so that would explain the uptick in these types of home going up on the Ranch during the past couple of years). Personally, I don’t find pole-barn homes to be aesthetically pleasing and I wonder if they will ultimately detract from the character of our town? While I’m no expert, I also wonder how much it’ll cost to heat one of those “barns” during the winter? They may be cheap to put up, but I bet folks end up paying more in other ways down the road. Go figure.
The latest pole-barn build on Cedar Creek Drive.
Lastly, in case you missed it, here’s the latest “Around the 307” news post on the Close to Home 307 website with tidbits on a giant corn maze, power rate hikes, and a Hunters Moon. We hope you’ll take a few minutes to read this sprinkling of news items from around the Cowboy State.
Calendar items? Well, we thought last week was quiet but next week looks positively empty; I have no dates to pass along.
Thanks so much for reading! Our readership keeps growing, and I really appreciate everyone who has shared the Close to Home 307 website with family and friends. Reach me by email anytime at: close2home307@gmail.com