More talking points from Perry’s Vision Retreat

Editor’s Note: This is the second part of a two-part series covering the City of Perry’s Vision Retreat.

WARNER ROBINS – The City of Perry hosted a vision retreat at the Museum of Aviation on Wednesday, Oct. 2, discussing the future of the city and issues they see arising.

Communications Director Tabitha Clark said the meeting was an informal discussion to have Mayor Randall Walker and council members thinking about the city’s future. The goal of the meeting was to make sure everyone is headed in the same direction.

Public Safety

The city is looking to expand the fire departments to be able to serve its growing community. Although many believe it would be beneficial to build another fire station, it would cost too much for the city and result in a citizen’s fire fee raise. 

To be more cost effective, the city will instead add one or two bays or two to existing fire stations. The fire fee also allows for fire fighters to reach areas outside of Perry and have the necessary equipment to fight fires.

 “The more growth we have, the more you spread that cost out, the more you can keep the fire fee constant or at a lower rate,” City Manager Lee Gilmour said.

Gilmour also shared currently, the police department is down only one to two police officers. He said this is a great sign considering difficulty hiring police officers in other communities.

Leisure Services

The Leisure Services Department has created more programs for children to participate in. However, kids who are living just outside the city in communities like Kathleen or Bonaire are not able to participate. Councilmember Phyllis Bynum-Grace suggested the county help pay for those children to also be able to get involved in the city’s programs.

Gilmour shared Walker is negotiating with the county to pay for physical infrastructure improvements. Therefore, he said they are anticipating the county will pay a portion of the East Perry park development. He does not anticipate the county paying for program fees any time soon, but they are experiencing pressure from residents. The city anticipates the programs getting larger and expanding. 

Future issues

Gilmour also shared with mayor and council what he believes the city must be prepared for in the future. Those issues include continued rapid growth in Houston County and eastern Peach County. 

“The growth in Houston County and in eastern Peach County is going to continue, no matter what. You don’t have any control over it it’s going to be coming. In a lot of places, it’s already here. You can have a choice about being an active player in trying to control it some way,” he said.

Other issues include:

• Isolated unicorporated parcels
• Demand for the city to be a service to non-residents
• Unrestricted growth downtown
• Demand for housing options related to costs, density or rehabilitation – pressure to have affordable housing
• Vehicle Traffic Demands. For example, Commerce Street being an active corridor
• Determining priority for infrastructure projects 
• Desire to return to “the good old days”
• Redefine the city’s character
• Duplicated services in neighborhoods 
• Transportation options
• Infrastructure improvements

The future of Perry

Gilmour showed the state circling Perry and middle Georgia. He said it was the most important aspect because it shows the distance between Interstate 75 and Interstate 20, which is 120 miles. He said the state is preparing and anticipating the area to have significant ongoing growth. 

“I think it’s very important for us to plan for growth, what type of growth we want but to realize that growth is coming and if we don’t try to take a handle on it somebody else is going to,” he said.

Mayor Walker said Perry is the perfect location for distribution centers. He then said the state is predicting the 120 miles from Interstate 20 will become urban Atlanta. 

“That will be influenced on a regular basis with people commuting back and forth, because their theory is transportation is going to change over the next 25 years so significantly that you can live in Perry and be in Atlanta in less than an hour. You can have a 45-minute commute,” he said.

Walker also said they are predicting this theory through artificial intelligence and technology which is what they want to incorporate into the city as well. Assistant City Manager Robert Smith also advised the mayor and council to be aware of the negatives of AI.

Walker said they predict Perry will become an urban neighborhood of Atlanta.

A goal the mayor and council has is to have managed growth, manage resources, no commercial growth and eventually keep log trucks out of downtown, which is an issue.

Mayor Walker also wants to focus on their density plan and keep subdivisions consistent. For example, an R-3 subdivision next to an R-3 subdivision. 

“We can’t argue every annexation and every new subdivision because they’re coming. We’re going to get a lot of pressure to do different things,” he said. 

He also said no growth means no opportunities and they do not want to go in that direction. They are also striving to make Perry Parkway less dense.

At the end of the meeting, the mayor and council appreciated how well they all worked together. Councilmember Dan Peterson said he believes citizens will appreciate that they are striving to manage growth.

Councilmember Phyllis Bynum-Grace also shared she believes they should look into every area of the city, and they all work together for the betterment of the city.

Walker ended the meeting mentioning Hurricane Helene and how prepared they are for natural disasters. He shared staff were up all night making sure the city was protected, and they were relieved in the morning to see minimal damage.

“We’ll continue to look around corners and anticipate what’s coming and react to that and make sure that we’re prepared for it. A prime example is all you have to do is look at how prepared the city of Perry was for the hurricane [Helene],” he said.

Mayor Walker said the city plans to host a town hall meeting later this fall to communicate with citizens about their plans.

To view the city’s strategic plan, click here .