Houston County’s Tri-City mayors give 2022 forecasts – Randall Walker

Perry Mayor Randall Walker, Senior Communications Administrator Tabitha Clark and Assistant City Manager Robert Smith shared their thoughts and plans for Perry advancement this year with The Houston Home Journal Thursday.

Walker said there are five different areas of focus for the city in 2022, with the first to include a look into improving city communication systems.

“I’d say the first thing that we’re going to be looking at this year will be various communications platforms that are available in the market, [to] more effectively communicate with all of our customers — our citizens, if you will,” he said.

Based on Walker’s sharing, the city’s goal is to keep residents updated regarding the things affecting them on a daily basis, including things as simple as garbage pickup and whether or not it will be picked up on a holiday or potentially be running a day late.

“It’ll get down to that granular level of communication with all 21,000 citizens that we have here in the city,” Walker said.

Senior Communications Administrator Clark said the new citywide texting service, “Perry Points,” featured a soft-launch this week and is awaiting final touches before a full launch Friday.

“This is just another way we really listen to a lot of the people about how they like to receive their information and communication from the city,” she said. “And the top two that we have so far is social media and text messaging.

“So, we’ve listened to those suggestions and concerns, and we’ve been working on this Perry Points since October.”

There have been plans to work through a strategic process to implement forms of communication in the city that won’t rely on anything digital, Clark said.

“So, not only are we focusing — especially this year — on our digital communication, but we’re also focusing on that area of the population that does not utilize digital means of receiving communication,” she added.

Walker said effective land management of the city’s service delivery area is crucial in the coming years.

“And what I mean by that, is making sure that we have density in our service delivery area,” he said. “We’re really looking at growth, not just for growth’s sake, but growing in a very planned way as we move forward.”

The mayor and city council have agreed that the population could reach over 40,000 after the next couple of decades, but the growth will see proper management.

“We’re at 21 [thousand],” Walker said. “So, over the next 20 years you’re looking at a doubling of our population, but we feel strongly that is probably the maximum number that we can sustain long-term with the amount of area that we have designated as our delivery area.”

The mayor shared that Perry will see a focus on long-term planning, including scheduled infrastructure improvements and upgrades to local parks.

“We are moving forward with the execution of Phase Two out at Heritage Oaks Park,” Walker said. “We’re doing some upgrades at Pine Needle Park, and the planning is going to continue for a regional park in the eastern area of [State Route] 127 and Houston Lake Road.”

Preserving and improving subdivisions have been on the city agenda for five or six years, according to Walker. This year will also see a crackdown on blighted areas throughout the city.

“[Perry] is going to celebrate 200 years in 2024 — and we have some beautiful, historic neighborhoods,” Walker noted. “We’re going to be focusing on preserving those neighborhoods so that they can continue to be a viable part of the city of Perry.”

Walker said city officials are considering the current and future generations of young people whenever discussing the growth of Perry.

“We will continue to research and understand the activities the young families in Perry desire,” he said. “Their desires are probably different than older people — like myself.”

He said whether it’s a city sports program for the kids or a new school program they need, city officials are thinking of younger families and their children.

“But we are going to identify what we need to be more young family-friendly, if you will, in supplying those services to the demographic that the city of Perry is attracting,” Walker said.

Assistant City Manager Smith spoke of the Perry Downtown Development Authority’s efforts in making Perry a destination to attract new investment in the city.

He said to look out for new street signs to pop up in Perry, sponsored by a historic signage program.

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