Friday morning, I walked into the office and there was a small package addressed to me on my desk. It might come as a surprise, but I actually get very little mail as mayor. (I get a lot of junk e-mail, but not much snail mail.) So, I was cautiously curious in opening the package.
It turned out to be a memoir about Ruth Burley, a former Weiser resident. Ruth was born here in 1911 and spent her childhood through young adult life as a Weiserite. The memoir had been found by Ruth’s grandson after her passing. The grandson, Steve, sat on the manuscript for a number of years before he decided to read it. As he read it, Steve discovered that his grandmother was a much more interesting person than he had thought and decided to publish her story.
Cathy and I have already started reading the book. From what little we have read, it sounds like it will be more than worthwhile.
In the accompanying letter, Ms. Burley’s grandson said he had visited Weiser a couple of weeks ago from his home in California. He described Weiser as “wonderful” and he “thoroughly enjoyed my visit to your city. It’s a vibrant prosperous town which clearly appreciates and preserves its past.” Steve then talked about places he had visited and was especially impressed with the Snake River Heritage Center where he left a couple of the books. Steve went on to say how friendly everyone was. And Steve is right! Weiser is all of these things.
I don’t know about you, but I appreciate getting an outside perspective of Weiser every once in a while. Almost every time, I hear how special the town and people are! Thank You! Everyone! for making Weiser such a great place to live, work, and play. You are special!
Now, it’s time to talk about the City’s business.
In last Monday night’s City Council meeting, the Council approved an agreement titled the Weiser Firefighting & Life Preservation Service Agreement. This document serves as the basis for providing fire and rescue service to Weiser and the surrounding area by one department, rather than separate departments for the City and the Rural. At the time of this writing and submission for print, the Rural Fire District Board has not met for their regular meeting to also approve the document. Therefore, I will hold off on discussing the terms until next week, but I just want to let everyone know that an agreement has been reached and should be signed very soon.
Also, a few weeks ago I discussed the possibility of forming a Local Improvement District (LID) to allow you homeowners the option to voluntarily fix up or install curb, gutter, and sidewalks to your home and pay for it through your taxes over time. Well, at Monday’s City Council meeting, the Council approved the formation of the LID. There are many more steps to go through before concrete can be poured, such as formal formation of the District, conferring with bond council, drafting an ordinance, getting word out to all households, accepting bids from contractors, etc. Hopefully, this is a significant first step to improving the sidewalk system in Weiser.
Well, that’s it for this week. Cathy and I will be letting you know how we like the memoir. If the preface is any indication, it promises to be good!

Well, it was another weekend of camping at Upper Payette Lake. Cathy and family had been up there for a little over two weeks and I have gone up on the weekends. This time, it wasn’t just Cathy and I that hiked into Josephine Lake, but myself and the rest of the family. After getting there, the two daughters and one of the grandsons decided to get in the lake and go for a swim. Considering that we were high enough for patches of snow to still be on the ground at lake level, you can imagine how cold the water was! BRRRR! I only got my feet wet.
The weekend’s highlight for me was an epic “naval” battle on Upper Payette between my grandson and I in my canoe, and two of the adult kids in kayaks. There was actually a dry spot on the back of my T-shirt when we made it back to camp.
Now on to City information.
Many people have been interested in the City’s Comprehensive Plan now being prepared by an outside firm. For those of you who may not know, a comprehensive plan is required by Idaho statute. It is structured around seventeen different factors such as population and growth, schools, economic development, land use, public services, natural resources, housing, recreation, community design, and others areas to “comprehensively plan” to for the needs and desires of the city and its residents. It is a combination of hard facts as well has thoughts on the needs and direction of the City.
The factual portion of the plan has been completed. Now, this is where you come in.
On Thursday September 15, from 4 to 7 p.m. at the Vendome, there will be an open house to present the information gathered and to then get your input regarding the City’s needs and your vision for the future of Weiser. This is the community’s opportunity to combine everyone’s thoughts to set a path forward. I have always believed that our collective ideas are much more useful and insightful than anything I or any other individual can come up with. So…. come on out! The community needs your feedback, your comments, and your ideas to make Weiser and even better place to live, work, and play!
By the way, the City received good news this week! A few weeks ago, I mentioned some of the items that the City had in the works or planned to place in the works to improve the City. Well, last week, we received word that the City of Weiser was awarded a Pedestrian Safety Grant from the State of Idaho’s Local Highway Technical Assistance Council (LHTAC) for $250,000. The funds will be used to construct sidewalk from the High School, down Indianhead to the Golf Course, then down State Street to connect to existing sidewalk leading to downtown and to the bike path at Memorial Park.
To qualify for the grant, the project needed to be shovel ready. Thanks to prior administrations and city employee’s forethought, the plans for the sidewalk had been drawn up years ago. It just happened that funds were available this year due to the State of Idaho’s budget surplus and the decision at the State level to put part of the surplus into transportation and alternative transportation infrastructure.
At this point, we are unsure exactly how much of the project can be completed with the $250,000. If need be, there are other grants we have been told Weiser would probably be eligible for to finish up the sidewalk. We will know more within the next few weeks as we have a bit more time to research costs. I will keep you posted.
Well, that’s it for this week! Hope to see you next month on the 15th to plan for the future of Weiser!

Whew! Am I tired today! Cathy has been up at Upper Payette Lake with one of the daughters and her boys. I have been going up on weekends. Yesterday, we decided to go on a “4-mile” round-trip hike into Duck Lake past Brundage. Since I will be going on an overnight backpacking trip in the Sawtooths a few weeks from now, I wore my fully loaded backpack for training. The daughter informed us after we got to Duck Lake, that the trip was actually 7-miles round trip. So…after a 7-mile afternoon trip with a 30 lb. pack, I am beat today. But, was it worth it! As with so much of Idaho, the scenery was gorgeous and well worth the work and effort to see and experience!
In other matters, Donna Wiggins and I were talking the other day. She informed me about a tree on the right- hand side of the lower-level entrance to the Courthouse that might be of interest to you. This tree was planted by the local Benevolent and Protective Order of Elks (B.P.O.E. or Elks.) The tree along with an appropriate marker placed at its base was dedicated to the men and women who served in the first Gulf War. You might want to take a look at it the next time you go to the Courthouse. Also, Thank You to the Elks for memorializing the dedication and sacrifice of those who served. Also, Thanks Donna! For bringing this to my attention.
In City news this week, Ken Anderson, our Recreation Department manager, has informed me that the Swimming Pool will be closing for the year on August 15. Many of our lifeguards are college students or college bound and August 15 is the last day that there will be enough lifeguards to adequately provide for safety at the pool. So, take advantage of the nice cool pool while you can!
Also, after a request from the Rolling Hills Golf Course, the City is upgrading the City’s water pump shed that sits to the west of the Clubhouse. The exterior will be upgraded to tie into the look of the golf course and help in the overall efforts of Rolling Hills to improve the appearance of the golf course.
Speaking of maintaining and upgrading, the Street Department is busily filling in potholes right now. The Street crew was prevented from doing so earlier by our asphalt truck. As you may know, in order to lay down asphalt, it has to be heated within a certain temperature range. The City has a truck and bed designed to hold asphalt and keep it heated. However, the heating unit has not wanted to co-operate this year. In addition, the asphalt plants have not been working full time, so it is hit and miss as to when asphalt was available. We now have the heating unit fixed and have asphalt so we are up and running.
Speaking of up and running, I would like to call attention to Mathew Johnson, the City’s mechanic. As you may have noticed, the City does not exactly have the newest most up-to-date equipment to work with (including the asphalt truck.) New commercial equipment is very expensive and often outside of the City’s means. So, to keep the City going, we rely on Mathew to keep us in business. As one who is not very mechanically inclined, I am always amazed at Matt’s ability to not only maintain the equipment, but to be able to take any truck or piece of equipment, diagnose the problem, and get it going again.
When you stop to think of all of the vehicles the City owns as well as all of the equipment from road graders and garbage trucks to lawnmowers, you can begin to understand the range of knowledge required to be the City’s mechanic. My hat is off to you Mathew! You have a steady stream of equipment to work on all of the time, as well as juggling in the emergency breakdowns. Thank You for all that you do!
Well, that’s it for this week. Hope you are able to get out and enjoy this great State of ours. Just don’t let someone tell you that a 7-mile hike is just 4!