[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 SVR News Roundup for the busy week of March 9th, 2025:
Tuesday, March 11th at 9am Coffee with the Mayor got the day off to a fast start at Town Hall. The coffee klatch (which also included donuts) was well-attended by residents. At 10am the Town of Star Valley Ranch (TSVR) Town Council conducted a work session. Here’s a link to the agenda along with a few notes:
Mid-Valley Fire District (MVFD) Fire Chief Tedd Jenkins attended the work session and briefed the Town Council on having an emergency gate between the Mountain Estates development and TSVR to facilitate firefighting access. A lock-box accessible or siren-activated gate are potential options and would greatly aid MVFD in the event of a wildland urban-interface fire incident.
Given TSVR’s proximity to the Bridger-Teton National Forest, enhancing wildfire safety is a subject that (in my opinion) should be a priority.
Note that the Town Council has not yet made a decision about access to Vista West Drive from the Mountain Estates development.
Avail Valley Construction will resume work on Water Improvement Project 2023 at the end of April (weather permitting).
Work to complete the Middle Branch Bridge replacement project will also resume as soon as conditions allow.
Folks, with an eye on expectation management, note that spring run-off may impact completion of this effort. Only one remaining wing of the new bridge needs to be installed, so fingers-crossed it can get finished without further delay!
Also on Tuesday at 2pm, the TSVR Municipal Court was in session upstairs at Town Hall. There were only two cases on the docket both for pushing snow across the road.
On Tuesday evening at 7pm the TSVR Town Council held their regular monthly meeting. You can find the meeting agenda and packet at this link. There is also a video recording of the entire meeting on the town’s YouTube webpage which you can access here or by clicking on the video embed below. Overall, it was a pretty benign meeting and public comments focused on the condition of town roads along with one comment about the upcoming rezone request outside the town limits by the owners of the Blue Ribbon Barn (see “Other news and notes for the week” a bit further down in this post for more on the latter).
Wednesday, March 12th at 5pm the TSVR Planning Commission met at Town Hall. Here’s a link to the agenda along with a couple of notes:
After further review of the town’s commercial zoning regulations along with consultation by the Town Attorney, the Planning Commission voted to provide an updated recommendation to the Town Council with regard to bitcoin mining operations within the town’s commercial zone.
I.e., that bitcoin mining operations do not qualify as a permitted land use within the town’s commercial zone.
Lastly, I thought it might be useful to provide a quick explanation of what the TSVR Planning Commission does. With the transition of the prior TSVR Planning and Zoning Board into the TSVR Planning Commission at the end of last year (in keeping with Wyoming Statute Title 15 Article 5), the Commission is now focused on all matters associated with zoning and planning (to include annexations, review of county planning matters in close proximity to the town, update of the TSVR Master Plan, etc.)
Note that approval of day-to-day permits such as single-family home builds and construction plan reviews are now handled by the TSVR Building Official.
Other news and notes for the week:
The Star Valley Ranch Trail Crew was busy the past week on local Bridger-Teton National Forest trails and also in opening a loop for snowshoe enthusiasts at Fox Run Park. Thank you Trail Crew for all you do!
Next week, the Lincoln County Planning and Zoning Commission (LCP&ZC) will meet at 6pm to review the rezone from rural to recreational for the Blue Ribbon Barn. Additionally, a Conditional Use Permit for Tjai Training and Boarding (a dog training and boarding facility about 5 miles north of SVR) is also on the agenda. Here’s a link to the LCP&ZC packet.
The advent of spring took a beating this week with another 4 to 6 inches of new snow. At least, that’s what we got at my house. Of course, by afternoon today, it was glorious outside!
Here are calendar items for next week:
Wednesday, March 19th at 2pm the TSVR Travel & Tourism Board will meet at Town Hall.
Thursday, March 20th at 3am Mountain Standard Time, it’s the Spring Equinox! Yea!
Thursday, March 20th at 2pm the TSVR Natural Resources Board will meet at Town Hall.
Also on Thursday, at 7pm, the Star Valley Ranch Association Board of Directors will hold their regular monthly meeting at Cedar Creek Center.
Final thoughts—My husband thinks I’m obsessed with eagle cams, he is probably right. With that sentiment in mind, I’m embedding a link to the Big Bear Bald Eagle Live Nest Cam below. You may recall I also embedded a link to the National Conservation Training Center (NCTC) Eagle Cam last month. Our Big Bear eagles already have two nestling, while the NCTC eagles’ eggs are due to hatch at any moment! Yes, apparantly, I am obsessed. Other than the eagles, I’ve been enjoying a show of blooms from my indoor plants over the past week. Check out the photos below from two of my succulents and my amaryllis. Ah, spring really is right around the corner. Enjoy your week 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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