Town Administrator for Star Valley Ranch Trevor Aitken joined SVI to discuss his new role and plans he has.
He comes from a law enforcement background and has been in Star Valley since 2003. He retired from that in October of last year.
“Let’s just say I was young enough, retirement wasn’t going so well for me,” Aitken said.
He recalled getting into a debate with someone in grocery store parking lot about things going on in Star Valley Ranch. He says this individual had a good resume to be part of a solution and he challenged him to, but then he says the comment “haunted” him.
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“I thought about it and thought ‘You know I retired as a Lieutenant, I’ve done a lot of public service’,” Aitken said. “Maybe I could help be a solution.”
He says that during COVID the town went without one and so it has been a while since there has been a town administrator. He says he is spending a lot of time learning new aspects of the job and that every day looks a little bit different.
He says the town became a municipality just to fix some of the water issues the community had experienced.
“We’re probably within a year and half maybe of getting the water lines done,” Aitken said. “After that we are going to need to replace three water tanks.”
He highlights challenges to plow roads as they have about 35 miles of road and it is not all paved. He says another item they want to work on is the “beauty” of the town.
“The trails, try to put some parks in and things like that,” Aitken said. “And make the town seem more like a nice town.”
He says the town started as a summer vacation place and now is seeing more and more people become full time residents. The Town Administrator says that makes things interesting as both groups are going to have different goals for the community. He says there are 2,044 full time residents there now.
However, he says one big thing he wants to focus on is the employees.
“Because when I was in law enforcement it became apparent to me,” Aitken said. “That often the times the people that have the best ideas on how to provide a higher level of service are those that are turning wrenches, plowing snow, or working in the water system.”
He knows it will take time, but that will be a big focus in providing a “higher level of service” to the community. He says they have someone working on grants to get more money to pave more roads and improve infrastructure. He also says if you have good ideas, he would love to hear from you with his office at the Town Hall.
