◆ Sunshine arrived not a day too soon.
Five full days of sunshine predicted in the weather forecast for this week is a welcome reprieve – especially for snow removal crews in Star Valley.
The Town of Afton has been storing snow in its east alley and has also been utilizing space on the Lincoln County lot at Second and Lincoln.
So far those snow storage solutions are working fairly well, according to Town Administrator Violet Sanderson. In the event that snow removal needs exceed the storage space available, the Town of Afton will start hauling snow, she said.
The Town of Thayne is in a similar situation. The town’s new snow blower has been put to good use, according to Town Clerk Caite Hillstead. The ability to blow snow farther from road ways has been wonderful she said.
In the event that snow continues to fall as it has over the last two weeks, the Town of Thayne will look at hauling snow to its sewer property, she said.
CHECK OUT THE LATEST STAR VALLEY WEATHER NEWS HERE!
“We really don’t want to get to a place where we have to do that,” she said. “But we do have storage available on the sewer property if we need it.”
According to Star Valley Ranch Town Administrator Evan Byrd, in Star Valley Ranch the snow storage availability varies from street to street.
In some areas of the town there are enough empty lots that snow removal and storage is easy. Other sections of the town are house to house and limited snow storage is available.
“We have had the grader out widening roads and working to smooth things out,” Byrd said. “It’s been a crazy year as far as how much snow has fallen during a storm, it hasn’t been inches, it has been feet.”
The Town of Star Valley Ranch does have the equipment to load and haul snow if needed, he said.
The available snow storage in the Town of Alpine is holding strong, according to Craig Leseberg, street superintendent for the town.
“The town has a 15 foot right-of-way along its roads,” he said. “So we are using that for snow storage at this point. The town has a bunch of ground we could use for snow storage if we need to. We would have to haul it there. Hopefully it will melt and we won’t have to do that.”
Each of the towns in Star Valley has faced issues this winter with area residents pushing snow across roadways, pushing snow onto other people’s property, or parking along municipal roads or in the municipal right-of-way during snow removal hours.
“Those issues are more pronounced this year because of the amount of snow we have received,” said Sanderson.
Each of the towns in Star Valley asked area residents to be considerate and aware as they work to clear snow.
All of the municipalities have snow removal ordinances in place. Contact the town halls for additional information on what is and is not allowed as far as snow removal is concerned.
The towns also asked drivers to be aware that roadways are slippery and the line-of-sight has been reduced at intersections in many areas due to the snow.
