You may or may not have noticed that Cathy and I love history. To us, it is fascinating to discover the events and patterns that shaped the past to bring us to where we are today.
Last week, Cathy and I were in Texas to see the solar eclipse. While we were there, we visited the School Book Depository where Lee Harvey Oswald fired the shots to assassinate President John F. Kennedy.
We were children when Kennedy was shot, but we remember where we were and what we were doing at the time. The assassination, Oswald’s capture, Oswald’s murder, and Kennedy’s funeral saturated the airwaves for four days. It was a little strange to recognize the rather plain drab book depository building from a distance just from old images.
Then to be on the 6th floor in the corner where the shots were fired really brought the event home. It is hard to describe the feeling that came over me while standing there. It was a mix of sadness, reverence, and oddly, peace.
Reflecting on the experience afterward, I realized once again how it is so much easier to tear down than it is to build and create. Kennedy spent his life working to be a servant to his country and asking all of us to also serve to make the nation and the world a better place. Oswald, in a matter of seconds destroyed not only Kennedy, but much of the vision he had for the country. It shattered the innocence of the idea that a President could physically mix with the public he served and be safe. It is impossible to know the total destructive impact this single act had on the world.
There are a number of lessons that can be learned from this event in history. One of my main take aways is that when people are trying to build, create, and improve they deserve encouragement and support. It is so easy to criticize and tear down especially with today’s social media. Fear of criticism may stop some from pursuing a new idea. Yeah, sometimes helpful suggestions are appropriate, but for those that are doing, we need to let them know they are appreciated and provide encouragement.
Well, on to City business.
Please help me in congratulating Mike Shepherd from the Water Department and Sjon Spens from the Wastewater Department. Mike and Sjon were both honored by the Idaho Rural Water Association this year. Mike as the Water Operator of the Year. Sjon was the Rookie of the Year. In addition, the Weiser Water Plant was named as the Water Treatment Plant Operation of the Year.
You have excellent people working for you in the City of Weiser.
On another note, this morning (Monday), Mike Campbell, the Public Works Director, let me know that the City was awarded a $120,000 grant for a city-wide traffic study. This will identify traffic patterns, help prioritize maintenance, quality of the roads, provide an inventory of street signs, and even the reflectivity of the signs. There will be more about this later.
Also, you may have noticed that E. Park Street between E. 6th Street and E. 7th Streets is closed. A water main which crosses E. Park Street has broken and needs repairs. The only way to make the repairs is to close the street while your award-winning Water Department digs down to expose the pipe and make the repairs. So, please be patient and obey the traffic pattern signs while the needed repairs are being made.
There is more news coming about our parks, but I will let the Idaho Blue Cross Foundation lead with that story.
Well, that’s it for this week. And yes, the sky was cloudy for the eclipse. I should have known that nothing could be better than Weiser’s presentation seven years ago. Weiser really is a great place to live, work, and play!

Cathy and our daughter are teachers with a deep love of history. Our oldest grandson will be taking Idaho history in school next year. And so, this last weekend, we had a chance to introduce the grandsons to the beginning of Idaho history.
Boise State University hosted a seven tribe Native-American Pow-Wow. What we saw, heard, and experienced was well worth the time and effort to be there. To see people in their hand made native dress (often handed down from generation to generation), listen to the traditional music, and watch Native-American dancing was a privilege. What was also interesting was how the event was organized to include everyone from literally toddlers to the elders. The feeling of watching a large family reunion was remarkable.
The oldest grandson told us afterwards that he had not been too keen on going to the powwow when told that we were going. However, after being there just a short time, he was loving it. I guess that is not a bad way to introduce a child to Idaho History.
Now on to City business.
Last week, I used this column to let you know about some of the projects going on around town, but also said the mentioned projects were not all that is going on. This week, I thought I’d tell you more.
The water reservoir rehabilitation project on the corner of Valley View Drive and McGinnis is nearing completion. You may remember that this project included draining the reservoir, sand blasting the interior, replacing the roof, and painting the interior and exterior. The total project will come in at $1,429,000. Replacing this 50-year-old structure would have run us about $7.5 million. The rehabilitation should buy us another 50 years of solid use for about 20% of the cost. Please take the time to thank your City Council members for taking this route.
In addition, the Economic Task Force has been working to get the Main Street Weiser program off the ground. A coordinator was hired last fall. An office has been set up in City Hall where the Recreation Department had been located.
For those of you who may not know, Main Street is a national program designed to revitalize and preserve historic downtown areas. The program has a strong track record in other communities across the country.
Part of the genius of the program is the ability to directly tap into the collective knowledge of communities that have been successful. If our Main Street Weiser has an issue we would like help solving, the idea is presented on the Main Street website to other Main Street communities and those communities respond with what has worked for them. I love not having to reinvent the wheel.
Another advantage is that when all the requirements of being a full-fledged Main Street program are reached, the program is eligible for funding for projects. The benefits of investing in our downtown will have benefits for other commerce in Weiser as well. We look forward to seeing what comes about through this program.
The development south of the Weiser River Bridge is expected to begin soon. If I understand correctly, the Maverick project is currently out for bid. As part of that project, Maverick paid for and will be placing the third “Welcome to Weiser” sign on their property.
Also, the plans for the proposed recreational vehicle park across Highway 95 from Maverick on the southeast side of the bridge are nearing finalization. It would seem that an RV park would be fairly simple to construct. However, when it involves water, wastewater, power, working with the Idaho Transportation Department on ingress and egress from a state highway, and then being in a flood zone to boot, there is a lot to consider.
One final note, and again, there is still more going on within the City, you may want to drive by the covered picnic area at Memorial Park. People have suggested that it would be nice to have a sidewalk from the curb to the picnic area. Well, Mike Campbell, your Public Works Director, and Ron McDaniels, your Street Department Director thought so too and have made it so!
Well, that’s it for this week. It sure seems awfully busy around here. Wait…it really is! Have a great week!

I’m beginning to know how a hoarder must feel. With filing cabinet drawers, kitchen drawers, and boxes taking up most of the spare space in the living room and dining room and cleaning supplies that are normally kept beneath the kitchen sink filling the bathtub, much of the house is reduced to paths rather than open spaces. The kitchen and porch remodel is remodeling our lives. On the bright side, Cathy has the essentials logically organized so that finding what we need is not a great problem. It will just be nice when the project is complete, and everything is back where it belongs…and we aren’t reduced to paths.
In City business this week, Mike Campbell, the Public Works Director, would like to let you know that beginning April 8, for two weeks, the railroad crossing at W. 3rd Street will be closed. Treasure Valley Farms, the onion packing operation south of the tracks, will be having a wastewater line connected to their significantly expanded facility. So, from April 8 to about April 22, please be prepared to go to the Water Plant or Mortimer’s Island by way of County Road 70.
The line will take about two weeks because it will be bored beneath the railroad tracks. Throughout the process, pressure checks must be made to ensure the line can withstand the trains above as well as making sure that there is no settling beneath the tracks.
In addition to laying a new wastewater line, Treasure Valley Farms will build an extension of County Road 70 down to the Water Plant and Mortimer’s Island then deed the road and right of way to the City.
Since I’m telling you what is going on south of the tracks, maybe this is a good time to let you know a few other things going on around town.
The Commercial Street project will start sometime in the next few months. The City expects to have final plans from the engineers sometime in April so we can go out for bids soon thereafter.
The project will start with the replacement of the culvert over Monroe Creek. Currently, the culvert is 110 feet wide. It will be reduced to about sixty-five feet wide with the roadway at 43 feet wide.
As it stands, Commercial Street is wide enough to be used as a four-lane highway or a small-plane landing strip. The cost to repave this street as is would exhaust the $2,000,000 funds available for the entire project. Therefore, instead, the City plans to reduce the street width to forty-three feet, which would be more than adequate for truck traffic. There will still be plenty of room for parking, except on the culvert. Narrowing the road will allow for a bike path and other amenities in what will remain the City’s right-of-way.
Next, we will focus on taking as much of the S out of the S-curve at E. 1st Street as possible and squaring up the wonky corner at E. 2nd Street.
After this first phase is completed, we will go after funding to fill in the gaps with a narrower road, and curb, gutter, and sidewalk where needed. Originally, we expected the $2,000,000 grant to cover the full amount, but construction costs have increased enormously. We are told that when the original funding doesn’t cover the complete project as expected, going for funds to bring it to completion is much easier. The State likes to see projects completed.
Another project coming soon will be the walkway near the high school to the golf course and down State Street to the bottom of the hill. Again, we will go for additional funds to complete the walkway to connect to downtown, Memorial Park, and the section from the High School over to W. 9th Street. This will complete a walking loop from Downtown, to the High School, and back.
Speaking of Memorial Park, the City is getting ready to send out requests for proposals to install new playground equipment at the park which possibly could include permanent ping-pong and corn-hole stations.
I could go on with other things going on within the City, but I’m running out of time and space for one article. There will be more later.
Well, that’s it for this week. I hope you have a great one. Weiser really is a great place to live, work, and play.

Well, the kitchen remodeling project started last week, so our house is full of boxes from the kitchen and back porch until the project is completed. While we are at it, we are also replacing a broken-up backyard sidewalk and the front steps as well. So, havoc is being created both inside and out.
In addition, Cathy agreed to have the grandsons spend the night on the first day of de-construction. Needless to say, with four workers inside and outside of the house as well as two grandkids, the house resembled (mostly) controlled chaos.
In spite of all that was going on, it was great to have the grandkids at the house. The oldest one took an interest in a set of stilts Cathy had from her childhood. He is now engaged in trying to master the art of walking tall. The younger one found a few canvases Cathy had painted on and wanted to work his own magic to see what he could do.
It is sure interesting and amazing how their own personal interests grow and develop as each of the boys grow and develop. They are brothers who play well together, but have completely different interests, talents, and personalities.
Now on to City business and happenings.
The Library will be hosting a movie video this Friday at 11:00. The movie will be a recently released animation comedy film called “Migration.” No, this is not about crossing a certain border to the south of us. Instead, it is about a family of ducks that decide to leave their safe and secure pond to find out why other ducks leave their ponds. So, on Friday head-on over to the library for popcorn and a movie with your friends! Who knows, you might even have fun!
Also, I wanted to remind you that Ken Anderson in the Recreation Department is still looking for lifeguards. In order to staff the swimming pool each year it takes about 12 lifeguards to make it work. This is a great summer job for high school and even college students. Where else can you sit in the sun, people watch, and get paid — all at the same time! So, if you, or someone you know, might be interested, just stop by the Vendome, or call 208-414-0301 to talk to Ken Anderson or Jhonna Eldridge to get your questions answered or to sign up!
The City Office is starting to hear concerns regarding the condition of alleyways. Just to be clear, alleys were never intended to be used for driveways and personal use. Instead, alleys were designed and intended to be used for utility access and garbage collection.
That being said, the City acknowledges that alleys get used for many purposes. And therefore, the City makes it a practice to come through each spring to level out the alleys and fill in the holes. The Street Department is waiting for the weather to turn so the alleys have a chance to dry before any work is done. Otherwise, I am told that to do so before they are dry is a waste of effort. The ground will be too soft to stay smooth for even a short time. So, please be patient. We are just waiting for Mother Nature to get past her current crying spell.
Well, that’s it now! I hope you have a great week! And Weiser really is a great place to live, work, and play!