Ru Rok, Mayor for the Town of Star Valley Ranch, spoke with SVI Media’s Dan Dockstader following the most recent Town Council meeting.

(0:00) SBI Media, the town of Star Valley Ranch, (0:02) to talk about some of the latest happenings at the January town (0:06) council meeting and much more. (0:08) Mayor, we’ve had some ordinances passed. (0:10) Maybe recap some of those as your first meeting (0:13) of the new year opened up, where we are with ordinances.

(0:16) And then we’ll talk about an annexation request. (0:19) But let’s start first with the ordinances. (0:21) Definitely.

(0:21) Thank you, Dan. (0:23) So in our January meeting, we had (0:25) one ordinance that was actually the third reading (0:28) of a budget amendment. (0:30) And the town council, we decided, (0:33) well, we had an opportunity to purchase something (0:35) called snow gates, which will be these devices that (0:39) will go on either side of our plows.

(0:42) And as the plows go by driveways, it’s hydraulic. (0:47) And a little gate will come down and hopefully reduce (0:50) the amount of snow that gets pushed (0:51) into residents’ driveways. (0:52) So that’s something that’s been a big deal up here (0:55) with the amount of snow that we usually get, not this year.

(0:59) We get a lot of snow berms and a lot of complaints (1:02) from residents on having to shovel out (1:04) every time the plow goes by. (1:06) Previously, we had looked into it, (1:07) and they didn’t make a gate that would really (1:10) work for our amount of snow. (1:11) But apparently, they’ve just come out with a new one.

(1:13) So we’re going to give those a try. (1:14) They’ve been ordered. (1:15) Now that we got our budget amendment through last month, (1:17) that was a big deal.

(1:18) The other ordinance we had was a short-term rental ordinance, (1:22) updating language for that. (1:24) We ended up tabling it because we were waiting on some input (1:27) from our town attorney on that one. (1:29) And there was also a third one, and it’s just (1:32) escaped my mind what it was.

(1:34) Dealing with the holidays and so forth, right? (1:35) Oh, that’s right, yes. (1:36) Yes, we’re going to just codify what our actual town holidays (1:40) are going to be going forward. (1:42) Most of them are pretty standard.

(1:44) I know a lot of towns just kind of do (1:46) an annual announcement of that. (1:48) But we’re going to go ahead and put it in ordinance (1:50) just so that for councils going forward, (1:52) it’ll all be squared away. (1:53) Have some templates there.

(1:55) You’ve got a request to annex, well, (1:58) what could potentially be a large area for the town. (2:02) And it’s right now, though, for clarification, (2:04) it’s within the county and according to county rules. (2:07) But where does Star Valley Ranch fit in all this? (2:09) Right, so at the beginning of December, (2:11) we did receive an annexation petition (2:14) from an LLC that’s called Bucket List LLC.

(2:18) And they are the developers of the Mountain Estate (2:20) subdivision, which is on the eastern side of Muddy String (2:23) Road, just north of Prater Canyon Road. (2:25) And it is a parcel. (2:26) It’s a planned unit development that’s (2:28) been ongoing with the county.

(2:29) I think the master plan was first submitted in 2008. (2:32) It’s undergone quite a few revisions since then. (2:35) It’s going to be a pretty dense development.

(2:38) And I believe it’s 52 townhomes and 68 single family lots. (2:43) There are currently one building of four townhomes (2:47) that are completed. (2:48) And per the developer, another building of four townhomes (2:51) is supposed to get underway this year.

(2:54) It is contiguous to the town. (2:57) This particular subdivision did come in in 2018 (3:02) with an annexation petition that the council at that time (3:05) did ultimately turn down. (3:07) So now we’re working through that process again.

(3:10) We have a lot of residents that are very interested in how (3:14) this annexation proceeds. (3:15) There’s lots of concerns voiced about impacts to traffic (3:18) and impacts to our water system. (3:20) So as we work through the process, (3:22) the town staff is currently in the process (3:24) of putting together the annexation report so that we (3:27) can really understand the pros and cons, the costs, (3:31) and all the impacts.

(3:32) And we want to share all the information (3:34) that we find with our community so that everyone (3:37) can make the best informed decision they (3:39) can going forward. (3:41) Per the statute, we’re going to try and get this all (3:44) done before the end of May. (3:45) I think we have 180 days before we (3:47) have to have a public hearing before the council.

(3:49) And you mentioned that in town council, (3:51) anything would proceed with a public hearing. (3:53) Absolutely. (3:54) Yes.

(3:55) All right. (3:55) Anything we haven’t gone over as far as the town council (3:58) business as we open up a brand new year for the town of Star (4:00) Valley Ranch? (4:01) Still working on improving our audio visual. (4:05) We actually put some new microphones in in January.

(4:07) So again, just little steps, but each time (4:09) it seems to make it even better for recording those meetings. (4:13) We’re also going to work on a BUILD grant, which (4:16) is a Federal Department of Transportation grant. (4:20) Probably a slim chance that we’ll actually (4:21) get any funding out of it, but we won’t know until we try.

(4:24) And if we do get it, that would also (4:25) go towards improving our town roads. (4:27) So just a couple of things that we’re also trying (4:30) to work on with the new year. (4:31) Very good.

(4:32) Mayor Roorock, Town of Star Valley Ranch. (4:34) Dan Docks at a reporting from the Town of Star Valley Ranch (4:37) Town Hall.