It’s Saint Patrick’s Day! Here’s your news roundup for the week of March 10th, 2024:
Tuesday, March 12th was the busiest day of the week at Star Valley Ranch beginning with Coffee with the Mayor at 9am followed by a Town Council work session held at 10am. You can find the work session agenda here and to follow are a few notes from that meeting:
Two representatives from the Lincoln County School District #2 (LCSD #2) Transportation Department attended the work session to discuss school bus routes in the Town of Star Valley Ranch (TSVR) with a focus on safety at currently designated bus stops. LCSD #2 bus routes 9, 10, 11, and 12 currently traverse TSVR (you can view a map of these routes and stops at this link).
Town Staff met with the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) last week to review the status of water system corrective actions. The Town Council agreed that a revision to the November 2023 TSVR Water System Corrective Action Plan Proposal should be drafted to document EPA required changes to the proposed plan and also to update the status of action items.
Cameras will soon be installed on Town public works heavy equipment to facilitate safety and aid with any road operations problems experienced by residents.
Also on Tuesday, at 2pm the TSVR Municipal Court was in session. The docket included two cases of short-term rental properties operating without permits. If you’ve never been to the TSVR Municipal Court, it’s held on the second Tuesday of every month, upstairs at Town Hall. Stop in sometime and check out the proceedings.
At 7pm on Tuesday evening, the Town Council held their regularly scheduled monthly meeting. You can find the complete Council packet here. Despite the number of ordinances up for reading, the meeting ended up being a decidedly short and sweet event! Watch the 13-minute video recording of the meeting on the Town’s YouTube page at this link.
On Wednesday, March 13th, at 5pm the TSVR Planning and Zoning (P&Z) Board met at Town Hall. The Board will be reviewing the newly proposed design standards and guidelines for single-family home construction (you can see the first-reading version of that ordinance here). [Note the latter proposed ordinance is a direct result of concerns expressed by residents in the wake of the colossal post-frame home—aka “barndominium”—recently built on Cedar Creek Drive.] Have thoughts on this topic? Please feel free to email me or contact the Town Clerk with comments.
A handful of other news items for the week:
The Star Valley Ranch Association (SVRA) advised in their weekly email, given the warming temperatures, the ice rink is now closed for the season and grooming of the cross-country ski trail has also been discontinued. Spring really is around the corner!
For the latest information on rapidly changing local trail conditions, as the warmer spring weather moves in, please look for updates (like this one) from the TSVR Trail Crew on their Facebook page. Thanks Trail Crew!
The TSVR is looking to hire a Town Administrator; they began advertising for the position a couple of weeks ago. Applications are due by Monday, March 25th and you can read more about the job requirements here.
Did you get one of these in your post office box? There is a sign posted at the Town Mail Center advising residents that if you do find one of these yellow cards in your mail it means “your package was either too big to fit in a locker or we didn’t have enough lockers” and as a result your package “is in Thayne at the Post office”. Our postal carriers apologize for any inconvenience.
If you see one of these in your mail—you probably have a package to pick-up at the Thayne Post Office. I was asked by a resident during the week if I would include a note in this week’s roundup about folks feeding deer on the Ranch. While some residents may think feeding our local mule deer is harmless and by doing so they’re helping these animals during the winter, the bottom line is—please don’t do it! Not only are folks potentially harming these wild mule deer, they are also violating Town ordinance §90.27 that prohibits feeding wildlife.
For more information on this topic, please take the time to watch this short 2-minute video from the Wyoming Game and Fish Department which concisely explains why feeding deer is a bad idea.
Here are your calendar items for next week:
Tuesday, March 19th at 6:00pm the SVRA will hold a Board of Directors (BoD) workshop at Cedar Creek Center.
Thursday, March 21st will be a busy day with the following events:
The TSVR Natural Resources Board will meet at 10am at Town Hall.
The Town Council will hold a budget work session at 2pm at Town Hall.
The SVRA will conduct their regular monthly BoD meeting at 7pm at Cedar Creek Center.
[Photo credit Winnie Molnar (Facebook), Silver Mustang Ranch.]
Final thoughts—I’m very happy to report Close to Home 307 now has over 200 subscribers! Woot, Woot! Thank you so much for your support of this little weekly publication. I will continue to work on making the content useful and welcome your input if there are particular topics you would like to see. And, now for one last “useful” item—last night when taking the dog out for his final outing before bed, I heard the lovely, rhythmic too, too, too song of a Northern Saw-whet Owl. For me, hearing these tiny owls (they’re only about 7” to 8” in size) is a sure sign spring is near! Check out the audio file below; I wager you’ll also hear these little guys soon!
Northern Saw-whet Owl. A certain herald of spring. [Photo credit Kenny Miller.]
That’s all for this week—again, thank you very much for reading! Please invite your neighbors, family, and friends to check out Close to Home 307. Your support and feedback is very much appreciated! Email me anytime at: close2home307@gmail.com
Thanks for the great job you’re doing!