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The week of August 11th, 2024 was a busy one at the Ranch, here’s the rundown:
Tuesday, August 13th was the busiest day of the week by far. Things got going at Town Hall with Coffee with the Mayor at 9am followed by a Town of Star Valley Ranch (TSVR) Town Council work session at 10am. Here’s a link to the work session agenda along with a couple of notes from the meeting:
The Town has purchased a replacement water truck as the current water truck has had recurring mechanical issues and break downs. Having a functioning water truck is essential in order to conduct dust mitigation work on Town roads. The replacement truck is being picked up this weekend.
There was a good deal of discussion about Short-Term Rental (STR) properties and whether or not a cap on the number in operation within the Town could be implemented. The Council will continue to investigate this idea.
The Council also discussed how to best handle the recurrence of residents keeping chickens on their properties which is currently prohibited by Town ordinance [refer to §90.05(L)]. One course of action could be to consider a narrowly defined update of the existing Town code thereby allowing residents to keep a limited number of chickens on their property. I’ll keep you posted as this topic continues to evolve.
Note the existing Star Valley Ranch Association (SVRA) Declaration of Covenants, Codes, and Restrictions (DCC&Rs) for all plats currently precludes keeping poultry on lots.
After lunch at 2pm on Tuesday, the TSVR Municipal Court was held upstairs at Town Hall. The following citations were on the docket: two for operation of a STR property without a permit, one vicious dog, one dog at-large, one for chickens on a property, and one for an open fire.
Things did not slow down on Tuesday evening. At 6pm the Star Valley Ranch Association (SVRA) held a Board of Directors (BoD) workshop at Cedar Creek Center. Here’s a link to the workshop agenda. And, at 7pm the Town Council held their regular monthly meeting at Town Hall. Here’s a link to the meeting packet and also to theYouTube video recording. Here is one note of interest from the meeting:
As was the case in July, there were quite a few citizens who made public comments during the Town Council meeting. The subjects expressed included speeding and dust mitigation on town roads, STR complaints, the road work on Vista Drive, and a cadre of citizens who requested the Town change the existing code to allow chickens to be kept on residential properties.
Wednesday, August 14th at 5pm the TSVR Planning and Zoning (P&Z) Board met at Town Hall. Here’s a link to the meeting agenda. Scott Cazier, the Town’s new Building Official was in attendance at the meeting; it was only his third day on the job, however, he’s working to get up to speed as quickly as possible. To recap the meeting, the P&Z Board approved the following items: two new single-family home (SFH) permits, four deck permits, one structure over 200 square feet, and one structural modification.
Thursday, August 15th the SVRA BoD held their regular monthly meeting at the Cedar Creek Center. Here’s a link to the agenda along with a few of my notes from the meeting:
The SVRA will be starting a Capital Campaign for Cedar Creek Park.
The Green Canyon project is still waiting for some required equipment. Currently, the start date for this effort is anticipated to be in September.
There was discussion of ways to mitigate after-hours trespass on the golf courses (some of which is resulting in damage).
The Aspen Hills project is moving along well and sod is anticipated to go in next month. If you haven’t seen what’s going on at this location, check it out! Once the gazebos go in it will be an amazing space for residents.
Budget season is coming up with the first draft of the SVRA 2025 Budget scheduled to be released to members on Friday October 5th.
Saturday’s planned Ranch Rendezvous Market (on August 17th) was cancelled due to the ongoing Water Improvement Project 2023 (WIP 2023) road work that currently has part of Vista Drive shut down near the intersection with Vista West. There are also traffic detours in place. We hope to see the Ranch Rendezvous up and running again next Saturday.
Other news and notes from the week:
As I’m sure many of you know, there is a lot of road work going on along Vista Drive at the moment as part of WIP 2023. There are currently closures and detours in place. Please obey signs and flaggers and please do not drive on private property to bypass the closure. Thank you!
A look at the planned detours and closures in process or anticipated in the coming week. The golf course driving range next to Cedar Creek Center is slated to have a connecting walkway and hitting pad poured next week. There will also be new landscaping with crushed stone, sod, and mulch.
Earlier this week a lightening caused fire was discovered in the Greys River Ranger District northeast of Afton, Wyoming. Dubbed the Willow Creek Fire, the recent wet weather had helped quell the fire and full containment is expected this weekend.
Willow Creek Fire on August 13th, 2024. [Photo courtesy of the U.S. Forest Service-Bridger-Teton National Forest.]
Here’s a look at calendar items for a not so busy next week:
Tuesday, August 20th is Wyoming’s Primary Election Day. Please get out and vote!
For information on the Star Valley Ranch ballot, you can read this primary primer in the Election 2024 section of Close to Home 307.
And, Saturday, August 24th from 8am to 11am (with any luck) we’ll see another edition of the Ranch Rendezvous Market at the Town Hall parking lot.
Final thoughts—I wanted to take a moment to write about former Town Councilman Don Baillie. For those of you who may not have heard, Don passed away on Monday of this week. Don was instrumental in convincing me to run for Town Council. Without his encouragement I’m not sure I would have ever thrown my hat in the ring. He was a kind and thoughtful man and he cared deeply about Star Valley Ranch. He will be greatly missed. I offer my sincerest condolences to his family.
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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Interested to know what comes of the chickens. I'd buy a lot and build there if it weren't for the chicken prohibition. Sounds extreme, but chickens are fun.