PERRY, Ga. — At the city council work session Monday, Chad McMurrian, city engineering services manager, spoke on the recent water main issue in the New Haven neighborhood of East Perry along with movement set forth to handle the issue.
The most recent water main advisory was posted on the City of Perry Government Facebook page on July 27 following a water main break on Winsted Court. Water was restored to the New Haven subdivision at 1:17 p.m. that day, and a boil advisory was put in place until the next day at 2:16 p.m.
“I just wanted to advise council we are moving forward with a plan to loop the system,” McMurrian said. “So we are having an engineer working with them to see if we can tie in another feed source to New Haven, and that will allow customers maybe to stay on line much better, provide better service to them at New Haven.”
Council member Robert Jones asked for clarification regarding some previous discussion on looping water systems in the New Haven and Stonebridge neighborhoods.
“It has been impossible to loop New Haven without making another connection,” McMurrian explained. “The original looping that was done for Stonebridge was able to be completed because of Sadie Heights community, which connects to the back. So we were able to connect Sadie Heights and it loop to Stonebridge.
“So the timing was very good to complete that loop and allow isolation valves, which if we have a problem in there, it minimizes [the effect to] a few homes instead of to the entire neighborhood. Currently, in New Haven, we do not have another feed source, but we are looking to just make a new tap off of the city having the county as a water main and just loop that system as well.”
He continued, saying previous main breaks were located in Stonebridge, and the most recent one took place in New Haven.
“So now, if there’s a main break in Stonebridge, New Haven doesn’t lose its water,” he said. “Previously, New Haven lost water if there was a main break in the neighboring subdivision. Now given the subdivisions are independent systems, we have to be able to loop both of the subdivisions to provide the same level of water supply that we have supplied for Stonebridge.”
McMurrian added that New Haven and Stonebridge both feature the same water pipes: C-200 PVC.
Council member Joy Peterson requested an advisory meeting with interested residents of the New Haven neighborhood.
McMurrian also discussed a proposed stormwater enforcement policy. The state requires the city to have an enforcement response plan, and Perry has made some updates to their current one in place.
“Fines start at $500, and a minor fine would be required to be reinspected in 48 hours,” he said. “If that is not taken care of, the fine escalates to $1,000. And then, again, 48 hours, if the problem is not taken care of, then it escalates to $2,500.”
These rates would be on a per-day basis. If the events are reoccurring, fines do not increase, but the timeframe for response decreases to 24 hours.
With a vote of approval from council on Tuesday, the city would post these updates to the city website, and the changes would go into effect immediately.
Interim Police Chief Alan Everidge spoke briefly on an agreement between the city and RedSpeed, a camera enforcement company. Read more on this agreement on the City of Perry website.
Representatives from Raymond James — a financial services firm — spoke on how current economic movement may affect the city and how the city is currently managing its debt.
The city has several series of outstanding bonds: an investor lien on the water-sewer revenue system, 2017-2022 issued debt to the Perry Public Facilities Authority, general fund related debt issued for property taxes and gas system improvements.
The representatives concluded that the city borrowed money when it was needed and city cash is currently earning yields above the debt being paid back to the project investors.
A discussion ensued regarding a proposal of a potential loading and unloading zone at the intersection of Ball and Carroll streets. There was also a potential second location on Jernigan Street near Orleans on Carroll.
City Manager Lee Gilmour said council member Darryl Albritton had received a call in the past from a delivery driver having troubles loading and unloading on Carroll Street. He said they looked at the situation and developed some criteria.
“The first one, because of all the issues about parking spaces on Carroll — I think all the council members are familiar with that — that was automatically ruled out on taking out the parking spaces for loading or unloading zones,” Gilmour said. “And the second would be to try and locate loading zones that would generally be convenient for merchants and particularly the restaurants. We’re interested in the restaurants because they usually have the largest amount of deliveries or the most frequent deliveries.”
City personnel went out and received opinions from nearby vendors, and with some support, some dissent and some indifference, city administration recommended to table the request for an official loading and unloading zone.
Gilmour spoke on the COBRA rate process for city employees. He said current federal practice requires the rates to be the actual cost plus a 2% administration fee.
According to a memo from the Office of the City Manager, the city’s broker advised some portion of the COBRA monthly charge may be subsidized. In the last five years, the city has provided this coverage for employees separating due to retirement (1), lay off (3) and by request (2).
Council decided to move forward with a vote regarding this topic at their meeting on Tuesday.
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