Mike Mastin, Helper City’s new Public Works Director, approached the council members during their Thursday evening meeting with the proposal of beginning a water conservation board.
Mastin informed the council that previously, while working in Price City, he had created a water conservation board, which served to help bring knowledge to the community on how to conserve water. In the last month, he has had citizens come to him with the concern of water conservation.
This is something that Mastin has been very passionate about and he stated that he would like to begin a board in Helper, possibly getting Mayor Lenise Peterman or council members to join. He would also like the citizens of Helper to be involved and help decide on ways to conserve water as well as plan for next year.
The current water levels were discussed briefly and a clarification was given that the board will be just about conservation, meaning it will not have a say on tank levels or the like. It was asked if this board would be able to mandate things, to which it was explained that it would be more along the lines of advisory at this point.
He also explained that the board he created in Price had a total of 10 people. This board met once or twice per month, depending on the situation, and worked to inform the public on ways to conserve.
He attended a seminar with the Jordan Valley Water District several years ago that discussed water conservation. Matsin learned that sometimes, the community and citizens do not have the knowledge on how to conserve, such as energy-efficient toilets.
“Very little water goes a long way,” said Mastin.
Ultimately, the creation of the board was approved and Mayor Peterman requested for Mastin to come back with details at the next meeting on structuring of the board.