By Aidan Mortensen | KOAL News
As 2025 approaches its end, Helper City Mayor Lensie Peterman joined the KOAL newsroom to recap the year and look ahead to what 2026 may hold.
Opening our discussion, Peterman spoke about the many grants the city received throughout the year. “We were very fortunate to receive an outdoor recreation grant for the pool, a grant for the police and other entities. So, you know, we’re just really so fortunate to be successful in that area.”
In addition to grant funding, the city also received a $121,000 donation from Wildcat Midstream, which reflected approximately 7% of the city’s annual budget that needed to be dispersed among departments.
“The Wildcat event in July was amazing, Heart for Helper. And we were so fortunate, again, to have these local area businesses who want to support us and see good things come our way,” stated Peterman. “Government works its best when it’s, you know, in the view of the people and the discussions happen so that people can hear where the council is going with things.”
Continuing on this theme of transparency, Peterman shared,” We do want to operate with transparency. I think people often forget rural governments are really small. I mean, we have 15 employees. So it’s hard to be as proactive as we’d like, but we certainly want to ensure our citizens that what we’re doing is in the public venue and available for them to provide feedback on.”
She also encouraged citizens to be in active communication with council members with concerns,” Your council members are your voice. So if you have strong feelings, positive and or negative, those are the people you should be talking to, to improve things in the city for all of us.”
One project that started at the end of 2024 and continued into 2025 is a repair of the pipeline that transports water from Scofield to Helper. Peterman provided an update on the project,” That was through the Division of Drinking Water. Amazing project, amazing results. We’re already seeing positive results with improved water flows, you know, turning the well off because we’re getting so much water, which is unheard of. So we’re super excited to see what the data shows us a year from now regarding the improvements.”
The mayor also spoke on other plans across the city to help conserve water,” We’re chasing a new grant and will submit in January for the baseball and softball fields. And what we want to do is turf out portions of those fields because it will lower water consumption, it will lower maintenance costs, and it’ll be safer for the players. So, you know, we’re constantly looking at projects that have these kinds of soft returns that you’re not really pursuing but will present.”
With 2025 serving as a municipal election year, the city is bidding farewell to Dave Dornan and Lori Barrett while welcoming Tyson Damron and Ruth Lee to the council. “They (Dornan and Barrett) both stepped up and provided a great deal of service. And, you know, we wish them the best as they move on to other endeavors … And we’re excited to see Ruth and Tyson and what they’re going to bring to the table.”
Moving from the present and into the future, Peterman previewed what the city is seeking to pursue in 2026: “We’re really looking at implementing a road maintenance strategy. We’re going after some federal dollars, well, state through federal, but to do some road maintenance on Hill Street and Briner Street. They’re considered major collectors. So we’re able to pursue funding for those.”
She added,” We’re really looking to take care of the roads and solidify our USU Eastern partnership with the baseball and softball teams. And we’re holding our breath, still waiting to hear about our affordable housing grant. So hopefully that’ll come in 2026 as well.”
Closing our conversation, Peterman shared a holiday message,” Happy holidays to everyone in Helper and in Carbon County. If you’re traveling, travel safe, but enjoy your time with family and friends. Those are precious moments and memories that you need to cherish.”