SV council gives nod to Moonlight, nay to Knolls

By Matt Brabb
Mogollon Connection Editor

The Star Valley Town Council on Tuesday decided there simply wasn’t enough money in the town’s coffers to finance a number of costly street improvement projects, but did vote to fund much needed repairs to a section of Moonlight Drive.

The council approved the spending of as much as $25,000 to patch failed areas on Moonlight, but balked at committing much of the town’s reserves on other big ticket items this early in the town’s fiscal year.

Proposed work in the Knolls and on Valley Road were voted down. An inch and a half of asphalt overlay would have cost the town $302,000. An inch of asphalt overlay could be had for $246,000, and double chip seal was available for $188,000.

Town Manager/Attorney Timothy Grier noted that the council had budgeted some $271,000 for streets, but that number included costs for everything, including “ongoing maintenance, which the town does a lot of.”

After subtracting the money needed for ongoing projects, the town has roughly $117,000 for major street development. That is not enough to fund any of the three alternate projects, but plenty for the repairs to Moonlight.

“It may seem like a lot, but when you do the math, it’s not that much,” Grier cautioned the council. “We’ve just begun the fiscal year.”

In fact, after noting a number of other road costs the town would likely be responsible for, Grier said that only approximately $55,000 would be available for capital expenses in the upcoming fiscal year.

Counselor George Binney was moved to ask the question “Are we building more roads than we can maintain?”

Grier replied that the town was hopeful that paving with asphalt would cost less to maintain, but that the town had become aware of issues that they had not expected.

“Could we do it cheaper? Sure, the county did. I never mind spending less money, but streets and roads need to remain a priority,” Grier said.

Binney persisted, “There has got to be an average cost per mile to maintain city streets; do we have that number?”

Members speaking on behalf of the commission explained that too many variables were involved to provide a simple “cost per mile” analysis.

“Why were the Knolls included?” asked Binney. “I drive on it; it looks good to me. We (Star Valley) still have some roads that are unpaved.”

He was told that the last time the county did any work there (before Star Valley incorporated) was in 2004, and that the roads in the Knolls were “getting pretty dry”.