On Thursday, June 20, Helper City Council held a quick council meeting to go over a few budget changes, in addition to a couple of other agenda items. All council members were in attendance with councilman Cole Stapley attending via Zoom.
A representative from United Way of Eastern Utah asked the council to waive the rental fees for their upcoming “Help Me Grow” event, which will be held at the Helper Auditorium. The “Help Me Grow” event would be a family friendly event, which would allow parents to come and play and do different activities with their children, while also obtaining information on local resources available. Council approved to waive all rental fees associated with the event.
The next item on the agenda was the road closure on Main Street from 4 p.m. to 8 p.m. for August’s First Friday event on August 2. The event is being hosted by Kilpatrick Art Garage and Utah Power Credit Union, who have coordinated a fundraiser to rehabilitate the Castle Gate cemetery. The plan is to place a historical marker, benches, gravel onto the pathways and a thorough clean-up of the cemetery. The fundraiser will consist of a multitude of art activities and other things for kids to participate in. Council approved closing Helper Main Street from 4 p.m. to 8 p.m. for the upcoming event.
Mayor Lenise Peterman stated that she was quite alarmed to see the outstanding negative balance for the 2023-24 budget. Mayor Peterman stated that she immediately reached out to Helper City Recorder Zack Tonc to get a better understanding. Upon her discussion with Tonc, the mayor wanted to have an open discussion about why the budget looked the way that it did. She asked for Tonc to explain to the council the reasoning behind negative balance.
Tonc explained that, as of right now, the budget is lacking four months of sales tax. Tonc explained that they won’t receive their sales tax until September, though the budget will be backdated to show those sales taxes coming through.
A few council members wanted to provide updates in their respective areas. The council were informed that the new pickleball nets had been delivered and would be installed soon. Mayor Peterman advised that The Helper Project will be providing funding to have the basketball court re-cemented and said that this will be done in memory of Tom Williams. Mayor Peterman shared that The Helper Project will also be purchasing new umbrellas for Main Street as well as the Helper City Pool.
Councilman Stapley informed his fellow council members that they were able to get it approved for the Helper City Pool to hire as young as 15, which will allow the pool to extend their hours of operation.
Mayor Peterman then adjourned the council meeting and advised council that she had a need for a closed session, which the council then moved into.