Mayor Ru Rok with the Town of Star Valley Ranch called into the Weekday Wake-Up to provide a summary of recent Town Council meetings and other items impacting the town.

(0:00) Weekday Wake Up on the SVI Radio Network on SWIFT 98 and The Spur heading into the (0:05) guest interview segment for today and touching base with the town of Star Valley Ranch, (0:09) Mayor Rue Rock with us this morning on the Weekday Wake Up. Mayor Rock, (0:12) good morning. How are you today? Hey, I’m doing great.

Thanks so much, (0:15) Duke. Gosh, it’s like spring outside again, isn’t it? It really is. It’s so weird, but you know (0:21) what? We’re going to want the moisture, but for now it feels good.

So you know what? We’ll just (0:25) take it. But Mayor, let’s talk about what’s happening in the town of Star Valley Ranch. (0:31) Maybe take us back to the most recent town council meeting and maybe summarize some of (0:36) the big talking points or main discussions that took place.

Absolutely. So we did have a (0:41) the most recent meeting we had with the town council work session last week. (0:47) We had a couple of topics there that we’ve been continually discussing or frequently.

So the EMS (0:54) special district, of course, which everyone is aware of that the county commissioners are putting (0:59) forward. So that was a big topic of discussion among our council members. Everyone’s very (1:05) interested to see where that goes.

Sounds like there’s a good bit of support from our community (1:11) for it. Although we are a bit worried about the increased mill levy, but we’ll continue to watch (1:17) that. And we do plan to provide some comments to the county commissioners during the comment period.

(1:22) You probably also know that the town is currently considering an annexation application from a (1:28) subdivision that’s adjacent to the town called Mountain Estates. So we’re still in the information (1:33) gathering phase and looking at all the potential impacts. If that parcel was annexed into the town, (1:40) we definitely want to know everything we can about the costs and the revenues, the positives and the (1:45) negatives for the town.

And that has definitely been a topic of high interest for our residents (1:49) as well. And then beyond that, at the meeting, we had some discussion about our upcoming budget (1:56) season, which we’ll really get into next month, and some ordinance changes for our short-term (2:01) rental ordinance. So that was pretty much a recap of the meeting from last week.

(2:05) Sure. Now, going back to the annexation discussion, I know that’s been on the agenda (2:10) for a little bit. For those who aren’t familiar with where that subdivision is, (2:15) and is this a new development or has it been there a while? Maybe just give us some more (2:18) background on that.

Sure, absolutely. So the Mountain Estates subdivision is on the eastern (2:25) side of Muddy String Road, just north of Crater Canyon Road, and it is directly contiguous to the (2:31) town of Star Valley Ranch. The property has been within Lincoln County and has a conditionally (2:40) approved master plan for the subdivision.

And it does consist of currently 54 townhomes, I believe, (2:48) and 68 single-family lots. Presently, though, there’s only four townhomes that have been (2:53) constructed. So it’s kind of just getting off the ground, and we’re pretty sure that after looking (3:01) at our ordinances, there may have to be some changes to the density of the townhomes, but (3:06) that’s something we’re still working through.

And the council won’t be making any decision on this (3:11) until later in the spring, most likely toward the end of April. We got the application at the (3:18) we do have a 180-day timeline to work within according to the statute. (3:24) What are some of the pros and cons when you look at this type of annexation to the town? (3:31) So, of course, you know, you got to look at the revenues.

And eventually, I think in the long (3:37) run, that could benefit the town. But currently, that property is planned for development in phases, (3:45) so it does stretch out a long time. So the town really wouldn’t see a lot of revenue up front.

(3:51) I think from the standpoint of possibly having some additional parks and maybe walking paths, (3:57) that could be good for the town. But on the flip side of that, there’s concern about additional (4:02) traffic from that subdivision. But, you know, overall, the thing we’re trying to (4:08) make sure everyone understands is that that subdivision will be developed whether it’s part (4:13) of the town or not.

So it’s just a matter of does our town want to have the ability to sort (4:20) of influence and control what does happen over there. You know, we have ordinances and things (4:25) that would apply to that development if it became part of the town. Otherwise, it would still be in (4:30) the county’s jurisdiction.

Star Valley Ranch Mayor Rue Rock with us this morning on the Weekday Wake (4:35) Up. Mayor, you mentioned how warm it’s been, and it seems like spring may hit earlier than it typically (4:41) does. With that in mind, are there any maybe spring-summer projects that are on the list for (4:48) this year within the town of Star Valley Ranch? Yes, absolutely.

And, you know, one of the biggest (4:54) things with this crazy winter we’ve had is that I’m really hoping we can get back out on our town (5:00) roads and start getting those back in shape. You know, we’ve got 60 percent of our town roads are (5:06) still unpaved, and many of them have grades of 15 percent or even more in some cases. And so this (5:14) crazy winter with its lack of snow and then rain and the continual swings between freezing and (5:20) thawing have just really put a hurtin’ on the town roads.

We’ve got a lot of places that are just in (5:26) really rough shape, so really would like to see us be able to get out there and start getting to (5:30) work on those so we can get the gravel roads in shape. And then we also have, you know, some (5:36) additional chip seal projects that we want to get underway as well. So I think, you know, roads is (5:42) going to be really the focus this season as we get into the warmer months.

That’s Mayor Rue Rock (5:48) with the town of Star Valley Ranch. Anything else you’d like to mention, Mayor, while we have you (5:52) on the air today? Last quick thing is, again, roads. We seem to always be talking about roads and water (5:59) here at Star Valley Ranch.

Our town actually did just apply for a federal BUILD grant, which is a (6:06) Department of Transportation program. It’s a really competitive process, but our application is, (6:12) if it was to be funded, would enable us to do a whole lot more paving, actually pave all of our (6:17) roads over the next eight years. But we won’t count those chickens, you know, until they hatch.

So, (6:22) but with any luck, we’ll be able to get some additional funding and get more of our roads (6:26) paved over the next few years. Okay, we’ll see how all that plays out. Mayor, thank you so much (6:31) for your time.

We appreciate it. Hey, thanks, dude. Have a great day.

You as well. It’s Mayor (6:35) Rue Rock this morning with the Weekday Wake Up on SVI Radio.