December 2025 Community Update

Hello American Falls,

It has been about a month since my last newsletter, and I am happy to share another update with you.
Over the past month, we have been excited to welcome two new employees to the City of American Falls, one in the Street Department and one in the Administration Department. Both have been excellent hires by their respective superintendents and have already proven to be strong additions to our team. We also celebrated the graduation of our final police officer from the Idaho State Police Academy. She has now returned to full time duty, and with our recent hires and officers back from POST training, the city is officially fully staffed citywide. That is a great milestone for our organization. Our employees truly are the backbone of this community, and their dedication and professionalism make my role as mayor a privilege. I am incredibly grateful for everything they do.

The Well 8 project continues to move forward and is now approximately 60 percent complete. The project is on track to be secured for the winter, with a few back ordered components expected to arrive in early spring. Once those items are installed, we anticipate the well being online and fully operational by late spring or early summer.

We are also making good progress on planning and selecting a location for a new animal shelter. Our Animal Control Officer has worked tirelessly alongside a citizen committee to ensure the facility will meet the needs of our community and provide a safe, warm, and healthy environment for animals. This project will significantly expand our ability to care for animals locally. While this has been a challenging topic at times, it is clear that our current shelter no longer meets the needs of our growing community, and we are pleased to be moving forward with a long term solution.

Since my last update, it has been brought to my attention that sharing this newsletter through Facebook and the Power County Press may not reach everyone who would like to see it. We have explored including these updates with monthly utility bills, but due to limitations with our current billing software and the logistics involved, that option has proven to be very time consuming. If you have ideas or suggestions on better ways to reach more residents, I would greatly appreciate hearing them.

As always, if you have any questions or would like to visit, please do not hesitate to stop by City Hall. I truly enjoy visiting with community members and hearing what is important to you. I wish everyone a wonderful holiday season and a very Merry Christmas. Here is to making 2026 our best year yet.