Gooding Community Newsletter

If you are connected to the City water system, you are required to have a backflow device. The backflow device must be tested annually.

Come support the local cowgirls and cowboys!

Dogs are welcome in our City parks, but we ask that owners clean up after their pets and properly dispose of it in the provided waste receptacles.

We know that our dogs would love to run free in the parks but not everyone is a dog lover and some are even afraid of dogs. The City of Gooding does have a leash law. Dogs must be on a leash not exceeding 10 feet in length.

The Hagerman Valley Historical Society is pleased to invite you to the opening of the new Hagerman Museum.

New Roots Vendor Event is seeking vendors for the May event at the Gooding Fairgrounds. If you would like to be a vendor or have questions about becoming a vendor, contact Anna Stearns at voicesinprint@gmail.com.

Click on the link for the vendor application and information https://bit.ly/4thNRVEvent

Gooding Vet is looking for skilled, dedicated nurses with a good work ethic.

Roman's Service Station is hiring a cashier and mechanic.

IESDB is looking for a School Bus Monitor

The Idaho Surveying and Rating Bureau comes every five years to compile and update information in regards to the City's Fire Protection Insurance Rating. They just finished up recently and the City's Rating continues to be a Class 3. For a small rural community a class 3 rating is really good! The Rating Bureau compiles data from the Fire Department, the City's water department and Emergency Communications. To name a few of the requirements they look for from fire dept are response times to alarms, training's, fire inspections, and making sure our engines and ladder truck has the correct amount of equipment and hose. The City has done a great job updating the main water lines throughout the city in the last few years, the addition to the two new pump stations has helped to make sure there is sufficient water supply for fire suppression. You may see a firefighter and city worker out flushing the fire hydrants, this is a key part of this rating, they want to be able to see the flows they are putting out. I would like to thank the City's water crew, communication dispatches and the firefighters for helping compile all the information required.

Without the City's hard work and dedication to the citys infrastructure and the Fire District's great job at responding to calls and keeping up with their equipment we wouldn't have the great rates available to the citizens of Gooding.

Chief Steven Bishop

The Gooding Police Department would like to recognize two of its officers for receiving the Basic Law Enforcement Certificate from the Idaho Peace Officer Standards and Training Council (POST). Officer’s Darwin Lenker and Nicolas Martin received their certificates at the City Council meeting on March 18th, 2024. This certification is a culmination of about 600 hours of training through an academy, which these officers completed at the College of Southern Idaho vocational program. Additional training was also completed over the year since their hire and we welcome them back to patrol our streets in Gooding.

Officer Lenker has also completed an additional 160 hours of training along with his K-9 Partner “Doc”. This team also received their K9 Drug Detection certificate from POST. ”Doc” is a Belgian Malinois / Dutch Shepherd and is the youngest certified drug detection K-9 in the State of Idaho at less than one year of age. “Doc” has exhibited a high learning capability which we hope to train further as a tracking K-9. While he is a great companion, please keep in mind that he is a working dog and should not be approached without caution.

The Gooding Dog Pound may be limited in service in the near future as we perform some needed repairs and maintenance to the facility. While doing so, all dogs will need to be housed elsewhere for about one week while the surfaces inside the kennel area is properly repaired and coated to prevent the spread of illness and enhancing the overall cleanliness. While we did plan for about $5,000.00 to complete this, the quotes received were twice as much. The Police Department has stepped up in funding for the K-9 program, as well as replacing the Animal Control vehicle but, we would entertain any donations that may be received for this project. The Gooding community really pulled through with recent donations of dog food which will help offset some costs. The pound currently has about 800 pounds of dog food, which should be sufficient for quite some time, while hopefully using it before spoiling.

The city will be going out to bid for sewer line cleaning and filming for the purpose evaluating their condition and prioritizing the replacement work to follow, we will have more on the project once the contractor is selected.

Hello Gooding,

Last month I was pretty excited to tell you about our City receiving the TAP Grant for the new sidewalks. New sidewalks on Main Street will be such an improvement to our community. The elderly will be able to walk without worrying about falling, kids can run without tripping on broken cement and carriages can go smoothly down the walk.

BUT, we also have some additional monumental news. We are working with the Army Corp of Engineers to get a new river wall built. We have been working on this for years but now it's coming together. The President has signed the necessary appropriation bill. Congressman Simpson secured a cost limit adjustment for a flood control project that he has long sought for the City of Gooding, Idaho H.R. 7776 the Water Resource Development Act of 2022. We will be having a signing ceremony with the Army Corp of Engineers on March 28th, 2024 at 6:30 P.M. at the Gooding Fire Station. As some of you know the City has been working with the Corp for numerous years to have the wall repaired. The new wall construction will go from Kansas Street to Nevada Street. It will also include 5 new bridges. As soon as the signing is done, they will start working on the planning stages. You’ll see surveyors working along the river to start off with project.

I attended a meeting with the Gooding County Community leaders and Eminent Technical Solutions (ETS) to inform everyone about our broadband grant that the County was fortunate enough to receive from the Idaho Commerce Department. It looks like they will be putting in new fiber lines for the broadband down the alley’s this late summer or early fall.

The City is going to busy the next couple of years with Main Street being repaired, new Main Street sidewalks, a new River Wall and Broadband being installed. With all of this going on the City is looking into a notification system to help contact and update citizens. This app is called TextMyGov. This app will have some features that you will be able to use to report potholes, or pay your water bill, and receive emergency notifications. If we are able to purchase the notification system we will be sure to get the information out to our citizens to begin using it.

I have seen a lot of people asking on Facebook when the City Tree Yard will be opening. It will open on April 2, 2024. The Tree Yard will only be open to the citizens of the City of Gooding that pay for city sanitation. You will be required to show your city utility bill to use the yard. These changes have taken place due to the city funding the Tree Yard out of our sanitation budget. County residence will still need to take their lawn clipping, tree branches, etc. to the Gooding County Landfill in Wendell.

On behalf of the Arbor Day Foundation, the City of Gooding has earned the recognition as a 2023 Tree City USA. Come out and celebrate Arbor Day with us. It will be held on May 2, 2024 at 10 A.M. at the USDA, 820 Main St. Gooding.

The Gooding Fun Day this year will be May 31st, 2024. Mark your calendars so you can bring the kids out for a great afternoon at the East Park.

Have a wonderful spring and hopefully I will have updates for you in the next newsletter on the River Wall.

Mayor Diane Houser

https://www.nww.usace.army.mil/Media/News-Releases/Article/3718762/usace-and-city-of-gooding-idaho-to-sign-project-partnership-agreement/