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So much for the saying April showers bring May flowers as our first few days of May only brought snow! Before we get started, I want to introduce Close to Home 307’s “Election 2024” section intended as a voter resource page for Star Valley Ranch (SVR). To get things rolling, we’re starting out by covering the upcoming Star Valley Ranch Association (SVRA) Board of Directors (BoD) election to be held on June 22nd, 2024. You can find an inaugural post that introduces this year’s SVRA BoD candidates here.
Okeedokie, and now, here’s your SVR News roundup for the week of April 28th, 2024:
Thursday, May 2nd at 6pm the Town of Star Valley Ranch (TSVR) Roads Advisory Board (RAD) met at Town Hall. Here’s a link to the meeting agenda; meeting minutes will be forthcoming. From the agenda the RAD continues to investigate ways to improve TSVR snow plowing services during the winter season.
From Friday May 3rd through Sunday May 5th, TSVR residents took part in a Town Spring Roadside Clean-Up event. I don’t know if the Town may have conducted spring clean-ups in the past, however, this is the first one I know of in recent years. I, personally, would like to see the Town’s Spring Roadside Clean-Up become an annual event and one that would see a steady increase in participation each year. Overall, not as many folks as I would have hoped opted to spend an hour or two filling up yellow bags with trash this weekend. Nonetheless, those who did manage to get our there did a stellar job! Thank you for working to keep Star Valley Ranch a beautiful place to live! Here are a few photos from the clean-up effort.
A few additional news notes for the week:
The TSVR Public Works department got to work removing asphalt from Vista Drive this week. Signage has been placed to alert drivers to the potential for detours. I know it’s going to be a hassle having to bump along this road for the foreseeable future, however, this is the first phase of Water Improvement Project 2023 (WIP 2023). Once WIP 2023 concludes the long wait for resurfacing of Vista Drive will finally be over! I know a bunch of you are so ready for that!
Construction is underway on Vista Drive. Please note that Canine Commons (our local dog park) is closed for the month of May to allow the grass to rebound after our long winter season. Thanks for keeping your pups out of the park for the next few weeks!
The TSVR Trail Crew officially began their 2024 season of trail work this past week despite the snow! See the latest photos from their efforts on the Trail Crew Facebook page. Thanks Trail Crew!
Last week, I asked readers to share thoughts they may have on the Town’s recently updated single-family home (SFH) permit fee schedule (now comprised of a $500 fee plus $1 per square foot). Thank you to those who sent emails on this topic. Here are a couple of excerpts from comments received:
“The cost of building permits relating to square footage is a pretty common practice in commercial and less common but not too uncommon in residential construction.”
“Re the fairness issue on fee and square footage… If the square footage is big I'm in agreement with $ per square foot. Perhaps not equal but does place the burden for building on SVR on the homeowner.”
Calendar dates and other items for next week are as follows:
Tuesday, May 7th at 10am the Town Council will conduct a work session at Town Hall.
Wednesday, May 8th at 5pm the TSVR Planning & Zoning Board will meet at Town Hall.
Also, all next week (from May 6th through May 12th) a fundraiser for the Friends of the Bridger-Teton (FBTN) will be held at Melvin Brewing in Alpine. The FBTN has been a big supporter of our Trail Crew’s efforts to include funding a number of projects; most recently FBTN provided 50% of the funds for construction of the new Prater Canyon Trailhead. So, if getting out there to swing a rogue hoe or a rake as a TSVR Trail Crew volunteer isn’t quite your speed, you can still help support Trail Crew efforts by checking out next week’s fundraiser instead! See this link for full details or check out this summary:
Melvin Brewing is offering a "2 for $2" dinner special where you buy one entree and get the second for $2, and that $2 goes to FBTN as a fundraiser! There will also be a Meet-and-Greet on Friday, May 10th from 4-8pm at Melvin with FBTN and local partners (to include our TSVR Trail Crew). Freebies will be handed out! See you there!
Final thoughts—this seems to happen every spring, however, within days of hanging up my hummingbird feeders it snows! Sure was pretty, but these two broad-tailed hummingbirds were not happy! And, there’s snow in the forecast for next week too—I’m sure we’ll get back to spring at some point. In the meantime, stay warm!
That’s all for today—Thank you 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
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