VICTOR — The Victor City Council voted 2-1 on May 27 to annex the Birch Crossing parcel, a 13.38-acre county island east of downtown, and zone it for single-family houses, closing off the 158-unit workforce-apartment project D&B Partners, LLC had spent three months trying to build there.

The decision followed two Victor Planning and Zoning Commission (P&Z) hearings since March. D&B asked to annex three parcels between the eastern end of Birch Street and Baseline Road and to zone them RM-1 and RM-2 for apartments. The council instead assigned RS-7, which permits detached single-family homes on 7,000-square-foot lots and duplexes on 9,000-square-foot lots, the zoning the commission had recommended on April 16. Council members Sue Muncaster and Stacy Hulsing voted in favor. Emily Sustick voted against, asking to continue the hearing until the city attorney, who was on vacation, could answer her legal questions. Amy Ross was absent.

The Victor Watch Dogs mailer arrived in Victor mailboxes between late March and early April. The semi-glossy, one-sided card carried a dog-logo masthead, the words "Victor Watch Dogs," and a four-point case against the city's wastewater decisions. In a box at the bottom of the page, under the small-type attribution "Paid for by Greg Davis," the third of three action items instructed readers to "sign the petition for a recall election" by emailing a recall-campaign address.

Three hundred and three calls came in to the Teton Valley sheriff's blotter this week. Someone set off a firework in a Driggs field on Friday morning, and the field caught fire. It burned a couple of acres before crews knocked it down. A separate unpermitted burn went up in Driggs the same afternoon. No arrest or citation followed either.

An independent CPA examination jointly commissioned by Driggs and Victor concluded that Driggs overcharged Victor for years on the cities' shared wastewater loan, used a cost-allocation method the inter-city agreement does not authorize, and could not reconcile two of three quarterly bills the auditor tested. The report, signed by Cooper Norman in Idaho Falls on February 9, 2024, became part of the public record on March 27, 2025, when the Victor City Council voted to end the 26-year partnership and build its own treatment plant.

VICTOR — Victor City Treasurer Jasmine Griffin told the City Council on May 13 that if Teton County voters reject the road levy on May 19, Victor will open its next budget year about $200,000 short on road funding, a gap the city would cover from its Local Option Tax. Update, May 20: The road levy passed.

DRIGGS — Driggs is borrowing $25 million to rebuild its wastewater treatment plant without a bond election. The Driggs City Council adopted Resolution 421-24 on Sept. 3, 2024, authorizing outside counsel to file for judicial confirmation in district court. A confirmed judgment is the city's legal authority to take on the debt.

VICTOR. The Victor City Council rescinded the Evans wastewater land deal at a special meeting, repealed the January annexation, and adopted an ordinance to exclude the parcel from the city limits. The City Attorney's April 29 staff report says the city and the seller "have agreed in principle to terminate" the contract; the rescission agreement includes de-annexation as a term. The council voted unanimously.

DRIGGS — Two of three Teton County commissioners questioned the breadth of exclusivity in a proposed new RAD franchise agreement at a Friday work session, with the third reluctant to disturb a working relationship. Commissioners declined to act, pushing the discussion toward amending the existing contract. The fallback is putting waste collection out to competitive bid for the first time since 2015.

DRIGGS — Teton County commissioners on Monday tabled the Sweetwater reconsideration petition to May 11, holding off on a ruling until they receive further legal counsel on whether the 12 people who filed it qualify to be heard. The petition challenges the board's March 9 approval of an expansion of the Sweetwater Subdivision from 18 to 44 lots on the parcel adjacent to the Driggs-Reed Memorial Airport.

DRIGGS — Teton County commissioners voted 3-0 Monday to adopt Ordinance No. 2026-04-27, creating a "Drive-In Theater" land use category in the county's Land Development Code (LDC) and giving the long-stalled rebuild of the Spud Drive-In Theatre a clear regulatory path forward.

VICTOR. The Victor wastewater fight reached its next milestone Wednesday when City Council voted 3-1 to amend the fiscal 2026 appropriations ordinance by $2,625,366 and to disburse $1,984,035.25 to close the Evans purchase, a 40-acre parcel at Highway 33 and 7000 South, the site of the city's planned independent Class A treatment facility. Councilors Sue Muncaster, Emily Sustick, and Stacy Hulsing voted in favor. Councilor Amy Ross dissented. Mayor Will Frohlich was absent.

VICTOR. City Council on Wednesday directed staff to discontinue Victor's standalone public records policy and administer requests under Idaho Code Title 74, but left the substantive questions driving the work session to a future meeting, including how the city treats third-party IT pass-through charges, who reviews disputed bills, and whether resident Ashley Coletti will get another hearing on the balance she is contesting.

The Victor City Council voted 3-1 Tuesday night to approve a $2 million Evans land purchase for the city's planned wastewater treatment facility and, in a separate vote, ratified the city's pending lawsuit against the City of Driggs on the same margin.

Two hundred and eighty-one calls came in to the Teton Valley sheriff blotter this week. A white horse spent part of Tuesday evening weaving through Highway 33 traffic north of Victor while the sheriff's office worked its way through five possible owners, none of whom owned the horse. The animal left the highway on its own; its fate is unknown.

The Birch Crossing zoning decision landed on April 16 when the Victor Planning and Zoning Commission recommended approval of the annexation but assigned RS-7 single-family to all 13.38 acres, closing off the 172-unit rental project D&B Partners LLC had scaled down and resubmitted over the previous month. The recommendation now goes to City Council, which has final authority on both the annexation and the initial zoning.

VICTOR — A Victor ethics complaint against the city's one-person consulting firm prompted two attorneys to examine whether a conflict of interest exists. Both concluded it does not. The consultant, Troy Butzlaff of Athenian Partners LLC, has held overlapping contracts as interim city administrator, capital and special projects manager, and executive director of the Victor Urban Renewal Agency since 2021. Out of "an abundance of caution," City Administrator Jeremy Besbris wrote in an April 8 email responding to the complaint, the consultant was asked to make a disclosure to the VURA board.

VICTOR -- The Victor City Council voted 3-0 on April 8 to deny the Market Street rezone, a proposed mixed-use rental development on 7.4 acres between Highway 33 and Grand Teton Brewing, overriding a staff recommendation and Planning and Zoning Commission approval. Councilmembers cited unresolved questions about wastewater infrastructure and a comprehensive plan they say needs updating before the city approves more density.

DRIGGS — A statewide petition drive to put reproductive rights on Idaho's November ballot enters its final 24 days, and Teton Valley volunteers are collecting signatures at four local businesses through the April 30 deadline.

VICTOR — The wastewater numbers in the Victor-Driggs fight start at $35 million, the figure that has dominated the debate since Mayor Will Frohlich announced plans to build an independent treatment plant. Critics call it reckless. The recall petition cites it. Councilmember Amy Ross, the lone dissenting vote on the judicial confirmation, warned in January that she doesn't think "anyone understands the full financial implications of $35 million in debt."

DRIGGS, Idaho — The Teton Creek Resort settlement approved Monday will cost Teton County $3 million. The county faced a $19 million judgment. The current Board of County Commissioners negotiated it down.

DRIGGS — The Teton County Board of County Commissioners voted 2-1 on Monday to deny Fall River Electric Cooperative's application for a special use permit to build the Midway Substation, a new electrical substation between Driggs and Victor. The cooperative argued the valley's growth rate, roughly 2.3 percent per year, requires new infrastructure to prevent outages. The commission disagreed.