The Helper City Council members were approached by Eric McCulley, who has been working tirelessly on the river revitalization project, during their regularly scheduled council meeting on Thursday evening. McCulley made a trip to Helper to give the council an update.
This project has been ongoing for a handful of years now. In 2014, money was spent to create a beach and remove hazards in the river near the center of town. In 2015, about $250,000 was used to remove another defunct structure. Projects such as these have been ongoing up to this year.
Some of the funding sources for this project have been the Utah Watershed Restoration Initiative, water quality fronts, Carbon County, Helper City and more. About 85% of the projects have been funded by various entities, McCulley informed the council. This year, $50,000 was received from the Habitat Council in order to conduct more improvements.
McCulley then asked the council members which direction they wanted to take with the next project. It is possible for a section of the river to become more recreational and allow boaters and tubers access. If that direction is taken, the county may become involved from a funding standpoint.
However, there are access issues from the Morgantown side of the river. McCulley stated that they are not insurmountable.
“Can we go outside the city of Helper with this project?” McCulley questioned.
A couple hundred feet outside of the city would be needed to complete the project to make it a recreational area. The council members agreed to work with McCulley and speak with the county to see what can be done.