Perry City Council abolishes Arts Center committee

By consent of the City Council, the City of Perry is dissolving the Perry Arts Center Advisory Committee.

City Manager Lee Gilmour, at Monday’s council work session, advised such a move by the council over concerns this committee is taking action – like conducting and promoting events – not authorized by the Perry Public Arts Commission. Plus, he said events such as First Friday, while they are benefitting worthwhile outside groups, are not fully benefitting the Perry Arts Center itself.

Gilmour also noted the committee did a good job when it was first established by the Arts Commission, but things haven’t worked out the way they should. He said there’s been an unwillingness shown to cooperate with other city partners and that he’s concerned about problems it could cause from the city’s standpoint.

Bill O’Neal, chairman of the Arts Commission, was at the meeting and was in agreement with the Council’s decision.

• Reba Cole, president of the Legacy Park Homeowners Association, spoke to the Council Monday about the city placing a sign in the subdivision’s entrance forbidding peddlers and solicitors from working in Legacy Park.

Mayor Jimmy Faircloth told Cole that the city only puts up signs for traffic and safety concerns, but the association itself could put up such signs as she was asking for on its own. That, however, brought up discussion about who would be responsible for enforcing such restrictions. That, Faircloth said, would not fall on the city.

The City of Perry does issue permits for solicitors, but Faircloth said the city does not get any proceeds from any sales by these solicitors. Solicitors are also only allowed to operate between the hours of 9 a.m. and 6 p.m.

• On Monday, the Perry City Council put off a pair of spending projects, one for lighting in the City Hall parking lot and the other for a major renovation project at Barbara Calhoun Park. Kevin Dye, director of leisure services, presented the cost estimate for the design of tennis court improvements, which would include resurfacing the two existing courts and adding two more. Documents show that W2MA Architects estimated the cost of construction at $85,000.

Councilman Riley Hunt said the City promised to build replacement courts at Calhoun Park and felt obligated to move forward with the project. Councilwoman Phyllis Bynum-Grace, however, said the city had greater needs to address before committing such funds to the park.

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