Following a successful reelection bid, Helper City mayor Lenise Peterman has continued her pursuit of grant funding for the city. Peterman joined the KOAL newsroom to discuss some of the funds coming to the city, while also giving a look at what is required after acceptance.

Opening our conversation, Peterman spoke about the Land and Water Conservation grant, which will help fund upgrades to Helper’s historic Gardner and Heritage fields. “We’re so fortunate to be able to go after that funding for the baseball and softball fields in Helper. For collegiate play, we want to expand dugouts and replace grass with turf. That’ll be a water conservation move as well as maintenance. And we were fortunate to receive a $580,000 cash donation specifically to match that grant, so that will actually go in January, and we hope to hear by April.”

The mayor added,” We’re excited to partner with USU Eastern to make these things happen. It’s been great for the community.”

Another grant being actively pursued by the city is the Community Block Development Grant. Peterman explained what the application process for the CBDG looks like: “It is significant in the work that you have to do to receive the grant. So we held our first public hearing to solicit public input on what they would like to see grant funding for. What should we be looking at and going after? And then we’ll have supporting documents that need to be approved by the council at the next meeting. It’s a pretty intricate, complex grant, so we’re pacing ourselves to get through it.”

The city is also actively working with the Utah Department of Transportation and the Joint Highway Commission to help repair and restore roads around the city. “We are looking at the Joint Highway Commission to really begin to put into play a strategy to do road maintenance across the city. And so that is a funding mechanism again, due in January, but it will actually be a year in coming to fruition, so we’re trying to get everything lined up to make that happen.”

Most grants require mid- or end-of-year reports on how the funds are used. Peterman provided an example of what this looks like: “The outdoor recreation grant is a great example. We received $81,000 in funding for the pool to install a new slide, a new diving board and new signage. So we’re at a six-month check-in. So we just recently submitted our report showing what we’ve expended to date so that we can begin to proceed to reimbursement. It’s all a process. So, you know, following those deadlines in the reporting structure is important to keep those funds flowing.”

One outside factor that significantly impacted the grant process was the record-setting government shutdown, which lasted 43 days. Peterman shared what sway this held on federal grant programs the city was working with,” I actually reached out to Sen. Curtis’s chief of staff because he was following up on a grant we had submitted for technical assistance and engineering services for affordable housing. So we’re looking at how we can develop some of the city-owned parcels into homes for people … I said I know people are getting back to work, but I would love to know where this particular funding program is. Because while I had heard it wasn’t rescinded, it was just delayed because of the shutdown. So, I’m crossing my fingers that will come through in the spring.”

Closing our conversation, Peterman stated,” Happy holidays as we move into the season and safe travels if you find yourself on the road, and we’ll continue to update when we have news on any of these grants.”