During public comment period, a stream of residents took to the microphone to express disappointment in park use restrictions, specifically, for youth football, due to the drought.

One resident, Brooke Wilcox, read a letter she had written in which she explained in heavy terms the impact sports had on her childhood.

“I grew up in a household where my mom was addicted to meth and my dad was an alcoholic,” she said. “Sports was my only escape, and it was my safe place. For these few hours, I had somewhere to go, people who expected me to show up and something positive to belong to.

“And when I look at these boys, I know some of them are carrying these things that we absolutely know nothing about. For one child, football may simply be something that he loves. For another, those two hours may be the safest two hours of his entire day. And I know that because I was once that kid. A field can be reseeded, a field can be repaired and a field can be maintained, but we cannot give these years back to these kids. It’s so much more than just grass.”

In a text message to the Standard-Examiner, Hooper City Mayor Sheri Bingham said the restrictions apply to all Hooper parks.

“The park that gets damaged the most is the one here by the city offices, particularly the field to the east,” she said. “We do have teams that use our main Hooper park by the rodeo arena, and also Wildwood park. Both of those Parks seem to be able to sustain the traffic better than the north park. We are now allowing all organized teams to come into the office and schedule to use our Parks one day a week. This particular Football League the Ute UC league has not came in the office to schedule anytime with us at all.”

Following his appointment, which came unopposed after the other applicant failed to show up, Kilts — a seventh-generation Hooper resident — told the Standard-Examiner he believes he’s a mender.

“I feel like I kind of bring people to the middle, and that’s what I’ve always done my whole life,” he said. “I want to help heal some of the wounds that have been here for a while, and I think I can do that.”

Related to the park use concern, he said he wants to research it more.

“I also want to hear what the parents say because it’s important that they have a voice,” he said. “And it seems like they got a pretty strong voice about this, and so I want to look into it.”

Kilts, a co-founder and owner of Trace Minerals, said he “felt a responsibility to the community.” He said his father was on the water improvement district board and his grandfather was on the cemetery’s first board “when badgers were pulling bones … back in the 40s.”

He said the city needs businesses and that it has really concerned him that there is nothing really to generate revenue.

“When you bring in something that’s responsible with businesses that are good that can bring in that revenue, that relieves the pressure off the citizens,” he said.

Kilts said he has input because he has a vote.

“You can ask questions and bring things up, especially to the planning commission,” he said. “What’s going on? What’s our plan? What are we trying to do to make Hooper a better place and get some revenues from the city?”

Hooper City Council member Ray Hancock used the word “fantastic” to describe Kilts’ appointment.

“He’s old Hooper,” Hancock said. “He has name recognition. He has a very successful business that he just sold the majority out of. The only reason he is not already in there or wasn’t previously is because his health got bad, so he pulled his name out from the election, or he would have already been a councilman. Guaranteed.”

The Hooper City Council had an opening after David Craig resigned to move with his family to Iowa, according to a Facebook post from Bingham.

Hancock said Craig was also fantastic.

“I love David Craig,” Hancock said. “I was hoping he was going to stay and be our next mayor down the road, but he moved. My stomach churned when he told me he was moving.”

Contact Standard-Examiner editor Ryan Comer at rcomer@standard.net.