Perry council approve increase in city fees, honors veterans during city council meeting

Key takeaways –

• Mayor Randall Walker and council approve increases in building permit and fire marshal fees by 10%, a 50-cent increase in the Fire Protection and Solid Waste fee, Wastewater rates by eight percent and Stormwater Debt Service fee by four percent.
• Mayor and council approve annexation with 4-2 vote and rezoning with 5-1 vote.
• Mayor and council start council meeting honoring local veterans.

PERRY – Tuesday night’s Perry council meeting started off honoring local veterans and approving to increase certain fees.

Perry Fee Schedule

During the regular council meeting, Mayor Randall Walker and council approved an increase in fees which will go into effect on Jan. 1, 2025.

City Manager Lee Gilmour said there will be an increase in building permit fees and fire marshal fees by 10%, which will cover their operating costs. Gilmour also said the council has stated that new development needs to pay their operating costs as much as possible, which is the reason for the increase. 

The next is the Fire Protection fee which will increase by four percent, according to Gilmour. He said this increase will cover debt service. Gilmour shared when the budget was originally put together, in the general fund there were vehicles that were debt serviced. The first responds group, which is paid out of general fund, also included equipment assigned to the fire protection fund. He said this was not picked up in the budgetary process which is why he recommends adjusting the fee schedule to cover the debt service.

There will also be an increase in the Solid Waste fee of four percent. Gilmour said this is due to the increase coming from Waste Management. He shared the city’s standard process is to wait and see the cost, since it is based on a CPI factor. They will then make the adjustment accordingly. City Attorney Brooke Newby also shared with mayor and council during the regular meeting is the solid waste fee cannot increase over five percent.

A four percent increase in both the Fire Protection and Solid Waste fee will be a 50-cent increase in the fees.

Gilmour also said the Wastewater rates will increase by eight percent. This is being adjusted due to an agreement with GEFA about water and sewer consumption charges. He shared that by adjusting the Millage Rate, they have to follow requirements set by a $50 million GEFA loan. 

The last increase is in Stormwater Debt Service fees, which will increase by four percent. Gilmour explained to council that the stormwater fund pays for debt service for projects paid for by a Perry Public Facilities Authority. It is already paying for the Langston Road stormwater pond project. However, Gilmour said due to the project’s increase in cost, it will increase the debt service. Gilmour shared they want that covered to avoid becoming a general fund obligation.

Gilmour shared with the mayor and council that the administration looks at various factors when determining the increase in fees. 

Factors include:

• Determining if there is a need to increase the fee or not
• Looking at how the previous fiscal year ended, if they were covered and successful and if there were potential losses 
• Look at what items may have changed that require an adjustment for the fees

Gilmour said the mayor and council have established the requirement about where each different group or funds have to pay for their own costs. This is being done to avoid costs being paid for through the general fund. According to Gilmour, if mayor and council did not approve of amending the city’s fee schedule, specialized funds will not have enough revenue coming in and therefore it will be covered by the general fund. This will lead to mayor and council increasing the millage rate, which is what they want to avoid.

He also shared it is the mayor and council’s interest to stabilize the fire protection fee and having increases in a gradual process.

Originally, the fees were going into effect for the next billing period in December, but the mayor and council suggested the increase go into effect on Jan. 1, 2025.

To see the new fee prices, see pages 97 to 100 in the council agenda. 

Mayor and council honors veterans

The first item on the agenda was Mayor Randall Walker recognizing local veterans. Recently, the Cherry Blossom Festival invited the city to participate in their veterans parade next Sunday afternoon in Macon. 

Walker said they thought the best way to find the most qualified veteran to ride in the parade was opening up nominations to the public. Out of 13 nominations, their final selection was Jim Lewis to ride with Mayor Walker.

He said they would also like to recognize and honor the other 12 nominees for their service.

During the regular council meeting, they took the opportunity to recognize four veterans and give them a token representing the city’s appreciation.

The first veteran recognized was Councilman James Moody, who served in the Air Force from 1983 to 1998. Moody retired at the rank of Sergeant.

Aldean Swan was also recognized during the meeting. Swan served in the army for 27 years and retired at the rank of Command Sergeant Major.

The next veterans were Brett and Sharon Edgley. The duo served in the Navy for 30 years active duty, four years active duty and three years reserve respectively. Both retired at the rank of Engineman Senior Chief Petty Officer and HT3.

The last veteran recognized was Mark Closson, who served in the Air Force from 1989 to 2016. Closson retired at the rank of Lieutenant Colonel.

“Everything we do up here, in my opinion, is good but sometimes we get to do some great things and to acknowledge people of their service. Thank you again,” Walker said.

The remaining veterans will be recognized the same way at a later date.

Second reading of annexation and rezoning request

Earlier in the regular council meeting, two annexation and rezoning requests were approved. Applicant, Chad Bryant, requested the annexation of property to the city. The second was an ordinance to rezone property from R-AG county to R-3 single-family residential. The property is located on South Hwy 341.

During pre-council, Community Development Director Bryan Wood said mayor and council had four options of how they wanted to move forward.

The options included:

• Approve it as it is with an R-3 zoning
• Approve it with a less intense zoning classification like R-1, R-2 and R-AG.
• Remand it to the planning commission with instructions
• Deny the applications

During the regular council meeting, the applicant addressed concerns about the number of entrances into the property. He said two entrances are required according to Department of Transportation standards. He also apologized to mayor and council about the confusion in the property’s density and they strive to be an “open book.” 

He shared 30 acres of land are usable on the property and there will be approximately 90 to 92 home units. 

Councilman Dan Peterson spoke in favor of the project and believes the city will be in control of the property, rather than the county. He believes it is a great fit for the city and will protect density.

A citizen spoke against the requests and told mayor and council there is a FEMA registered flood plain on the property. He urged mayor and council not to repeat the same mistake as Sadie Heights, which is a neighborhood that experiences flooding due to being in a registered flood plain. He believed the county should be in charge of the property. 

The citizen also believes it is dishonest of the applicant to say the property is R-3, but it will look like an R-1 single family residential. His concern is also the traffic the project will cause and densely populate the area.

Mayor and council voted 4-2 with Councilman James Moody and Mayor Pro Tempore Robert Jones voting to deny the annexation. There was also a 5-1 vote with Jones voting against the ordinance to rezone.

Mayor and council will meet again for their pre-council starting at 5 p.m. and regular council meeting at 6 p.m. on Nov.19. Everyone is invited to attend these meetings, and the agenda can be found here.