Submitted by Ken Watts.
A Grateful Community: Words cannot express the gratitude the Island Park community has for the people who courageously fought the Sawtelle Peak Fire. Everything about the operation was amazing. The response was quick and decisive and this was certainly a deciding factor in controlling the fire. So many people and agencies responded so well. It was inspiring to watch the planes dip into the lake and rapidly deliver water to the fire. One person said they were making a trip every 16 minutes. These pilots must have nerves of steel. Their incredible skills were on display. The helicopter pilots were amazing with their precision dumping of water on the spot fires. We could not witness the efforts of the ground crews, but there is no doubt they were key players in the effort. Thanks, Fire Fighter, from a very grateful community! Sewer System Judicial Hearing: The purpose of this hearing was to seek judicial confirmation of the power of Fremont County to incur indebtedness for upgrades to the Island Park sewer system. This is a necessary step for the County to received money from the federal American Rescue Plan Act (ARPA) funds. We are talking tens of millions of dollars for the sewer system to correct deficiencies. Your County did an outstanding job of preparing for this moment. Engineering and planning had been done in the past to assure Fremont County was eligible to get these funds. It is a competition for the funds and therefore preparation is critical. It is a complicated process with many nuances. During a break, Brandon Harris (public works director) took me to each poster board and explained the entire process. He explained how preparation is key to competing for more money for the community. It was easy to get this kind of attention because I was the only person from the Island Park community in attendance. Nobody from City government was able to attend. This sewer system serves City residents. Only one person testified at the hearing. He was from the ASAP septic pumping company. He wanted the system design to accommodate dumping septic waste. He currently hauls his loads to Rigby or Idaho Falls for processing. Forsgren (the contractor) did an excellent job of explaining the complexity of the system and the deficiencies. The County Commissioners voted unanimously in favor of moving forward with the process. Traffic Volume on US 20: There was an article on the front page of the Island Park News, on August 18, 2022, that provided Yellowstone National Park visitation data for July. Visitation was down 45% from July of 2021 and down 36% from 2019, the last pre-Covid year. For the year, visitation is down 30% from 2021. There are likely many reasons for the lower visitation, including the flood, much higher fuel prices, lodging costs, dining costs, investment losses, and inflation in general. The Idaho Transportation Department had estimated that traffic would increase linearly by 3% per year on US 20 from Ashton to SH 87. This number is in question with the lower visitation to YNP. A 30% decrease in traffic is like a 10 year reset. This means that the two lane upgrade to US 20 could now be good until 2052 rather than 2042 as was estimated by JUB Engineers in their upgrade study.
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Making Sense of It All
This blog will help you make sense out of all the information on the website, how it affects IP, our history, and how efforts continue to put IP into various forms of conservation status. Archives
May 2023
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