Castle Country Radio was able to sit down with Mayor Lenise Peterman to talk about the happenings taking place in Helper. She came in to discuss applying/receiving grants, the city’s arch, construction on Janet Street Bridge and seeking board members.

“So we’re very fortunate in Main Street funding because Utah has joined the Main Street, the national program, which has opened up some new funding avenues that we’ve not had historically. So we are looking to capture dollars to help distribute our Main Street design elements both north and south so it’s much more inclusive and not just the heart but rather goes all the way up so people get a real sense of cohesiveness and being included in all of the good work that is going on,” stated Mayor Peterman.  A lot of the grants are matching funds so with the T-Mobile Grant and donation from Castleview Hospital that was presented to the city last year will help secure the maximum amount for the Utah Main Street program.

The community has voiced their desire to bring the Helper arch back to Main Street and Mayor Prettyman hopes to use some of the grant funding to help make that a reality. “It’s a big emotional anchor for the community, I can go back to when we hosted the Sustainable Assessment Team folks and people talked continually about can we bring the arch back. So hopefully if all of this funding comes into play I’m going to look at taking those dollars and doing a bigger federal match to hopefully bring that into fruition, so I’m crossing fingers and hoping that works out,” explained Mayor Peterman. Once funding is set in place City Officials will turn towards the community to get input on where the arch should be set up because it can not return to its original location which was on the south end of Main Street.

Construction on Janet Street Bridge is moving along, however, the city is currently in process of determining if it a historical landmark with the National Park Service. “It is about a year long process. You have to justify and pull information from the build, why you perceive it to be historic and we think we’re really positioned quite well to have that happen, it runs through the National Park Service. Once we can secure the nomination we can then go after some new funding avenues to really make that thing as beautiful as it was when it went in in the 1930s,” stated Mayor Peterman. City officials appreciate the patience of the community as they go through the process.

City Officials are looking for individuals to secure some seats on some city boards. “There are so many opportunities to request that people serve, and serve based on their passion. So we decided this year we would open up all the boards to interested citizens. So if you are interested in serving on Planning & Zoning, the library board, the museum board, First Friday is also involved in this. We want to open up that up to the general public and have them complete an application, tell us what board they are interested in,” said Mayor Peterman. Any individuals that would like to apply for a seat on a board must do so by Friday, January 28. Applications can be found at the Helper City Office located at 58 South Main Street in Helper.

To stay informed on the happenings in Helper visit the city’s Facebook page.