Mayor Walker shares city vision for first Business at Breakfast

PERRY, Ga. — The Perry Chamber hosted their inaugural Business at Breakfast event at the Houston Lake Country Club on Wednesday morning, providing a chance for mixing, mingling, inquiring and learning among chamber members.

The Perry Chamber CEO and President Maggie Schuyler opened the event, explaining that the monthly breakfast meeting concept was something new the chamber wanted to try for 2023, all in an effort to keep people better informed, in a business sense, on what is happening locally.

“This is an opportunity for you to learn about what’s going on in our community,” Schuyler said. “At every Business at Breakfast, we will do an update from the chamber and from our community partners.”

Some of these partners include: the City of Perry, the Georgia National Fairgrounds and Agricenter, the Houston County School System and the Houston County Board of Commissioners.

Schuyler said the Perry Chamber is currently at its highest membership count ever with 544 members, with 110 being added just last year.

The keynote guest was the City of Perry and Mayor Randall Walker. He said that although the city has enjoyed 2022, there are more changes to come for the city — and preparations are underway. 

The first topic of concern Walker addressed was population growth and how it could affect infrastructure. To provide proper facilities for the growing city, he said one project is in the works to help the current citizens and others later: the East Perry Wastewater Treatment Plant.

“This project is critical to the future growth and the success of the City of Perry,” Walker said. “This project is in concert with the Houston County Board of Commissioners, and will not only serve 20,640 new homes that are projected to be built in the East Perry service area, it will also serve any new industrial projects in the AE Harris track.”

With permitting completed and a construction management team selected, design work has begun on the project. The plant has an expected completion of sometime in 2025.

The city plans to install a 1 million-gallon elevated storage tank on the west side of I-75.

“We are currently looking at sites in the Perry Parkway and Valley Drive area,” Walker said. “This tank is planned to serve future industrial growth, such as Jack Link’s, the residential growth in the southwest portion of the city, that would be residential growth that we see in the south and west part outside of our downtown, and, potentially, it could serve as fire protection needs for the county in this area as well.”

In terms of transportation infrastructure projects, he spoke on four improvements: the Commodore Drive extension from Houston Lake Drive to US Highway 341, Langston Road improvements from Highway 41 to Houston Lake Drive, upgrades to Talton Road and Highway 41, including the intersection of Commerce and Swift streets.

The city plans to utilize a public-private partnership for a multi-use facility, providing commercial space, city offices and, potentially, residential units. This would be located in the lower 700 block of Carroll Street.

“We are currently accepting requests for qualifications as we move through this process,” Walker said. “We feel strongly that this will enhance the viability of our downtown corridor.”

The city plans on completing a new downtown city hall and municipal court sometime in August.

While some positive signs of growth are evident — including recent bond rating improvements, adjusted housing fees, modernizing workforce development and using various funding sources for previously mentioned projects — Walker spoke on some of their challenges. The city council recently passed an urban camping ordinance following requests from business owners and other residents.

“Homelessness is a very difficult issue, and it affects all cities nationwide,” Walker said. ” … Our number one priority in the City of Perry is our residents and our businesses.

“This issue is far-reaching. It involves mental health issues, it involves substance abuse, and the reality is, there are very few simple answers. We are researching various alternatives to address this complex issue with our partners throughout the county.”

In closing, the mayor said the city’s commitments included: maintaining development standards, combating blight in the community, making decisions based on the strategic plan, managing expenses effectively and efficiently, as well as making smart investments for Perry’s future.

Ashley Brown with the Georgia National Fairgrounds said a variety of shows are on their upcoming schedule. 

Work is being completed on a $9 million project to update air conditioning systems, gutters, roof lines, painting and more, all in an effort to provide a better guest experience.

Brown said they currently have a request sent to the state legislature regarding a third sheep and swine barn.

“That is an area of business that has just continued to grow, to the point that we routinely have to turn down a lot of business because we just don’t have the room to accommodate with the sheep and swine industry,” Brown said.

As for the hotel in the works out that way, that process is in the permitting phase, Brown added. Following permitting, there should be some earth moved in the near future.

The Augusta Cutting Horse Futurity will be in town next week, a monster truck show will take place at the end of January and the Georgia National Rodeo in February is anticipated to be sold out all three nights of the event.

Chamber CEO Schuyler added that the Ollie Awards will take place at the Perry Players Community Theatre on Feb. 2.

Business at Breakfast will take place the first Wednesday of every month at the Houston Lake Country Club, with the next happening on Feb. 1. The maximum guest limit is 72, so inquire with the Perry Chamber early if you’re interested in attending.

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