Newspaper Page Text
THE HOUSTON HOME JOURNAL
PERRY
From page 1A
from their its public works
oversight committee.
The council agreed to pay
Integrated Science &
Engineering, based in
Fayetteville and Savannah,
more than $182,000 for a
major project to evaluate the
city’s manholes and
stormwater drainage system
and solve flooding problems
on Cambridge Drive.
Perry Public Works
Superintendent Jeff West
said at a council meeting in
April that many of the city’s
flooding problems stem from
leaky sewer manholes, and
has spearheaded the project.
West estimated that during
heavy rains over Easter
weekend this year, at least 3
million gallons of groundwa
ter flooded the system over a
three-day period during and
after the storm. Integrated
Science was not the lowest
bidder on the project, but
West told the public works
committee last week that
the city should hire
Integrated Science based on
their experience with the
firm and what it offered
compared to other compa
nies. Integrated Science has
been working with the city
since 2001, along with
Houston County, Warner
Robins and Centerville for
several years, to develop a
countywide storm water
ordinance that sets basic
standards for everything
from the size and materials
of drainage pipes to the
qualifications of engineering
firms and contractors hired
to do the work.
In this project, the firm
has offered to inspect each
of the city’s 1,868 manholes,
recommending which need
to be sealed, which need to
be raised above flood levels,
and prepare a plan for doing
the work. The company has
also offered to build a digital
database of information on
each of the city’s manholes,
which can be used to combat
future flooding,problem?,
Also based on the commit
tee’s recommendations, the
council:
VA reaching out to veterans sheltered in Georgia
Veterans evacuated during
Hurricane Katrina from
New Orleans and the Gulf
Coast area should call the
Department of Veterans
Affairs, toll-free at (800)
827-1000 to find out more
information about benefits
or to establish a new loca
tion for payments.
Veterans service represen
tatives will be traveling to
shelters in the Georgia area
to assist with delivery of
benefits, claims, home loans
and other information
Local Chick-fil-A
restaurants host Red
Cross fund-raiser
The nine Middle Georgia
Chick-fil-A restaurants will
raise funds today for the vic
tims of Hurricane Katrina.
As a part of their efforts, all
restaurants will donate a
portion of sales to the
American Red Cross
Hurricane Relief Fund.
In the wake of the
nation’s deadliest national
disaster, the American Red
Cross has deployed more
than 5,000 volunteers to the
areas most heavily affected.
Relying on donations from
people throughout the
nation, Red Cross disaster
teams will provide the hun
dreds of thousands of vic
tims with critical necessities
such as food, shelter, coun
seling and more. For more
information on the
American Red Cross effort,
please visit
www.redcross.org
Participating Houston
County Chick-fil-A locations
are at 1363 Sam Nunn Blvd.
in Perry, 1867 Watson Blvd.
in Warner Robins, and 2922
Watson Blvd. (Galleria Mall)
in Centerville, between the
hours of 6:30 a.m. and 10
p.m.
- From staff reports
• Agreed to hire several
firms to provide biweekly
lawn maintenance services
at Woodlawn and Evergreen
cemeteries, Calhoun Park
and Creekwood Park. The
total cost of contracting
services is expected to cost
$32,473. The city plans to
buy a new lawn mower so
the recreation department
can continue maintaining
Rozar Park.
City Manager Lee
Gilmour said that it would
have cost the city an addi
tional $36,800 per year to do
the work itself biweekly.
Gilmour said contracting
the project would save the
city an estimated $48,865
for moving city rights of way
and for street repairs.
Council members Bobby
Glover and Phyllis Bynum-
Grace voted against the con
tract, arguing that contract
ing services made it more
difficult to deal with prob
lems. Glover said that the
city could deal with a prob
lem promptly if their own
workers did the job.
• Agreed to establish a
policy that makes develop
ers, homeowners and home
owner’s associations respon
sible for maintaining large
subdivision entrance signs.
If a sign is not maintained or
repaired, the city can
remove it.
• Agreed to close Allen
Court, Magnolia Street and
Hickory Drive from its
intersection with Magnolia
to Gum Street. Gilmour said
that the city has faced recur
ring problems with trash
dumping in the area, and
needs to close the dirt paths
to vehicle traffic.
• Agreed to pay $12,000 to
subscribe to the Subscribed
Regulatory Compliance
Service (SRCS) from the
Municipal Gas Authority of
Georgia. Perry Utilities
Director Harold Deal said
subscribing to the service
will help the city comply
yvith the Federal Pipeline
Safety Code, which governs
the nation’s natural gas
service. The SRCS will
maintain detailed records on
beginning this week.
Additionally, a toll-free
number has been estab
lished for veterans who
receive care at the Biloxi,
Gulfport and New Orleans
VA Medical Centers.
Veterans or their families
should call (800) 507-4571 to
receive information on
where to go for care, how to
receive prescription drugs,
or any other concerns they
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the city’s compliance with
federal regulations, admin
ister training, represent the
city before the Public
Service Commission, the
enforcement body for the
federal office of Pipeline
Safety, and help the city
meet new code require
ments.
• Agreed to support the
city’s plans to seek $500,000
in bonds and loans to
upgrade the city’s main nat
ural gas line on Houston
Lake Road to an eight-inch
fine that Deal said would
give the city larger capacity.
The city is expected to
receive more than $970,00
from the Georgia
Department of
Transportation to move the
line, which sits over the last
leg of a major road widening
project. Councilman Billy
Jerles voted against the
project, demanding more of
an explanation of where the
city’s money was going.
Also during Tuesday’s
meeting, the council:
• Recognized awards
from the Perry
Beautification Commission.
The Wendy’s restaurant on
Sam Nunn Boulevard was
recognized as the Business
of the Month, the Westfield
Schools was recognized as
the Public Building of the
Month, and Willie and
Juanita Sledge received a
Yard of the Month award for
their home at 818 Oak
Ridge.
• Denied Larry Moss’
request for a special excep
tion to keep a junkyard in an
M-2, industrial district
along Rutherford Drive near
the Georgia National
Fairgrounds and Agricenter.
Moss told the council he
needed until January to
clear a site in Fort Valley
where he wants to move the
junkyard. The council’s
decision will give Moss until
November to move the junk
yard off the property.
• Agreed to rezone
approximately 0.44 acres
from R-3, multi-family resi
dential property to C-2, gen
eral commercial property for
may have about their care.
The phone line will be open
24 hours a day, seven days a
week.
- From staff reports
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Minor Company Inc.’s plans
to build an 18,200-square
foot strip mall along Ball
Street near Eckerd’s. The
company agreed to build a
six-foot privacy fence
around the back side of the
property and an auxiliary
parking lot to protect a
nearby residential area on
Ash Street.
• Agreed to Nirmala
Dodia’s request to de-annex
a 1-acre property on U.S. 41
North near Todd Road and
Alpine Way. The developer,
Kanu Dodia, bought the
property with the under
standing that it would be
attached to the city’s sewer
line. After the city changed
to a force main, it was esti
mated that it would cost the
city between $150,000 and
$200,000 to connect the
property to the line. Dodia
wanted his property de
annexed to avoid being
forced to pay city property
taxes for land he can’t use.
• Agreed to amend the
Perry Land Development
Ordinance to create a new
OC (Office Commercial)
District. The Perry Planning
Commission and the city
have been working for sev
eral months to create the
new district, which will
serve as a buffer between
commercial and residential
areas. A number of commer
cial uses in the new district
will require special excep
tions approved by the com
mission and the council.
• Passed a resolution low
ering the city’s millage rate
from 14.34 to 14.33. Despite
the small decrease, the city
is expected to still generate
$3,777,400 in property taxes
in 2005, more than $120,000
above the budgeted figure.
• Agreed to pay Walker
Rhodes Tractor Company
$10,435 for a Dixie Chopper
lawn mower for the city’s
recreation department.
Walker Rhodes was the
highest bidder among four
companies competing for
the contract, and the city’s
purchasing agent suggested
the city accept an offer of
$7,999 from Moe Products
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Satirday, September 10,2005
7pm -11 pm
nminsCaitir
Hosted by:
Perry Fire Department
ladies' Auxiliary
Proceeds to benefit fire prevention and safety programs.
THURSDAY, SEPTEMBER 8, 2005
of Hawkinsville. City
Manager Lee Gilmour sug
gested Walker Rhodes after
discussing the project with
the city’s vehicle mainte
nance staff. Gilmour’s rec
ommendation was also
based on the reputation of
the company and the reput
ed longevity of their equip
ment.
• Agreed to pay Fisher
Scientific $11,991 for four
air bottles and accessories
for the Perry Fire
Department.
• Agreed to pay American
Lubefest-Autolube $26.99
per vehicle for oil changes
and tire rotation on all city
vehicles. According to a
memo from Public Works
Director Jeff West, an aver
age of 20 of the city’s 85
vehicles require some form
of service, either an oil
change, lube or tire rotation.
West estimated that it would
have cost at least $34 per
vehicle for the city to do the
same work itself.
• Agreed to write off
uncollected service fees from
1994-2004. The city lost
more than $143,000 in
uncollected user and service
fees in the ten-year period,
with more than $78,000
alone in unrecoverable
water and sewer fees.
Councilman Joe Kusar sug
gested that the city report
customers who don’t pay
their bills to credit agencies.
• Agreed to pay a SIOO
annual fee to join the
Golden Isles Parkway
Association, in conjunction
with the Perry Area
Convention and Visitors
Bureau. The group is
designed to bolster economic
development and tourism
along U.S. 341 from Perry to
Brunswick.
• Agreed to work with
Houston County to build a
storm water detention pond
at the Perry-Houston
County Airport to curb
flooding problems in The
Farm subdivision.
Councilman Jerles said that
heavy rains are pushing
water across Walton Road
into the subdivision. The
tickets
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city is expected to handle
the engineering costs for the
project, while Houston
County is expected to do the
work of building the pond
itself.
• Agreed to accept an offer
from Kmart to pay 85 per
cent of past due taxes for a
store that closed on Sam
Nunn Boulevard in 2001.
The company was forced to
file bankruptcy in January
2002, and the Perry store
was among several stores
closed in Georgia. The com
pany owed the city close to
$47,000 in property taxes
from 2002 and 2003.
Gilmour said that the com
pany did not own the build
ing itself, but was required
to pay property taxes as a
business for its inventory.
The company has agreed to
pay the city more than
$27,000.
• Agreed to hire
Associates in Local
Government Assistance Inc.
to administer and supervise
a $500,000 Community
Development Block Grant
administered by the Georgia
Department of Community
Affairs from U.S.
Department of Housing and
Urban Development. The
grant will go towards the
Grace Village project, a shel
ter for homeless women and
their children developed by
Perry Volunteer Outreach.
• Agreed to pay Perry
Firefighters Kirk Crumpton
and Kevin Noles their regu
lar salary during the nine
days they are expected to be
out of the city with the
Central Georgia Search and
Rescue team deployed to
hurricane-ravaged
Louisiana.
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