City of Perry says farewell to fellow council member

PERRY, Ga. – Perry council was different Tuesday evening as mayor and council said goodbye to councilmember Riley Hunt who represented District 3 Post 2.

Hunt has been a resident of Perry for 60 years and has been serving the city since 2004. Tears were shed after his announcement towards the end of the meeting. Hunt shared that he will be retiring due to health and family reasons. Details of who will be taking over his position are unknown at this time.

“Thank you, third district, for electing me all these times. It’s been my privilege to serve the citizens of Perry but it is now time for me to step aside for health and family reasons, so I bid you farewell and Godspeed. Thank you,” said Hunt.

During pre-council, Director of Finance Mitchell Worthington told mayor and council about a discussion he had with Police Chief Alan Everidge concerning a fraudulent check attempt. According to Worthington, the city issued a legitimate check, someone intercepted the check, and he suspects they did it through mail, but it is not confirmed.

Worthington said the suspect reproduced the check with the same details, changed the “pay to order line” then attempted to deposit the check into their bank account. Worthington said the city has a service called “positive pay” on the city’s bank accounts. The service requires to upload all details of the checks to the bank’s website. If the details don’t match, finance staff is alerted and can approve or disapprove the payment. He said the service alerted them of the attempted crime and the finance staff was able to disapprove the payment.

The city contacted law enforcement and the incident is currently under investigation. Although Worthington thinks they may never know who attempted the incident, he assures mayor and council that funds are safe.

During pre-council and the regular council meeting, Worthington also brought to mayor and council the fiscal year 2024 Operating Budget. This is the first reading of the budget, and no action from the mayor and council is required now. To see the budget visit perry-ga.gov/escribe-agendas-minutes.

Also, during pre-council, City Attorney Brooke Newby spoke to the mayor and council of an ordinance amending the city code relative to the classification of vicious or dangerous dogs, an amendment related to responsible dog ownership. The changes were made to reflect state law changes from this year.

City council also approved some new names for parks in the city. Public Works Superintendent Ansley Fitzner proposed a resolution naming the parks in Grand Reserve Subdivision and Sadie Heights Subdivision. Fitzner said that based on the discussion during Monday evening’s work session, her department decided to name Grand Reserve Neighborhoods on 100 Black Hawke Lane to Passerine Park and Sadie Heights Stonebridge Neighborhoods on 600 Daisy Drive to Willow Park.

Developments into a possible collaboration with The Haseya Group to provide a new inclusive playground in the city were also discussed during the city’s Monday night work session.

Towards the end of pre-council, Clark informed mayor and council about the new citizen’s financial report which informs the citizens of Perry on where their money is going and spent each fiscal year. Clark said they try to make the report easy to read for each citizen and that it is available online on the city’s website and on all social media. The report will also be printed out and available at the city’s information kiosk. To read the report visit www.flipsnack.com/cityofperry/citizen-s-financial-report-fiscal-year-2022.html.

Mayor Walker also spoke to the council about the discussion they had during the work session Monday night about a new inclusive park in the city.

According to Ansley Fitzner, the Haseya Group of Perry requested a city collaboration in creating an inclusive playground in the city for the public, with Mayor Randall Walker expressing the city’s backing.

“I think everybody is supportive of the idea it’s a matter of how we go about it and what is the total exposure short term and long term to the city,” said Mayor Walker.

Council member Willie King also brought out toward the end of pre-council that a citizen approached him about the statue in front of the courthouse and when it will be moved to another location. City Manager Lee Gilmour said the removal of the statue ties in with Legacy Park Phase two and it is currently unknown when the statue will be moved.

Moving on to the regular council meeting, many members of the community were recognized Tuesday evening.

Starting off were the recognitions of new police trainees Anthony Valle and Austin Fennell, introduced by Chief Everidge. They will start at the academy next month and serve in the Perry Police Dept.

The mayor and council also took the time to recognize officer of the year, supervisor of the year and civilian of the year. Everidge said multiple people nominated them. Major Heath Dykes added the department is lucky to have employees like them and they appreciate the work they do.

The civilian of the year was Gail Price, Perry PD’s executive secretary. She serves the city of Perry and the Criminal Investigations unit and has done so for 27 years. Everidge said she and was nominated by multiple people.

Sergeant Kim Morton was recognized as officer of the year. She came to Perry after working as a police officer in Oklahoma. Everidge said she has solved many cases in the community and in other locations as well.

The last person recognized Tuesday evening was Lieutenant Quridsha Gilliam who was voted Supervisor of the year. Everidge said she has served the department for 19 years and met her when she was a patrol officer.

Mayor Walker also extended his gratitude.

“Congratulations to all three of you. We have an outstanding force and you’re just a representative of how outstanding that force is and we truly thank you for what you do each and every day to keep the city of Perry safe,” said Walker.

Walker reminded everyone that the next council meeting will be June 20 at 6 p.m.; pre-council starts at 5 p.m. After reminding everyone that the work session on June 19 will happen at a later date because of Juneteenth, the meeting was adjourned.

To find the agenda and minutes of future council meetings please visit perry-ga.gov/escribe-agendas-minutes.

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