Perry to consider making masks mandatory for personnel

During the Monday evening work session of Perry Mayor and Council, Mayor Randall Walker made the recommendation to council that the city adopt a personnel policy that would apply to city employees relative to the wearing of masks. Walker noted the growing numbers of the virus and the need for the city to take action.

“…The numbers are getting larger and larger, and I think we, as a city, need to take some action to protect our citizens, as well as to protect our employees,” Walker explained. The mayor’s recommendation would consist of, “a ruling within the city, that if you’re working within the city, and you are on the clock, and you cannot provide six feet of separation or social distancing between other employees, that it is mandatory that you wear a mask…

“Also the second part… is that if you are on the clock, and you are in public space, that’d be the grocery store, or if you’re going to pick up stuff at ACE Hardware, but you’re out in public space, then you are required to wear a mask.

“It does nothing more than show that the city is serious about this, and it shows our leadership as individuals that this is very important…” Walker suggested.

Council concurred to allow City Manager Lee Gilmour to move forward with the policy for personnel.

Walker expressed that the policy could be helpful in the possible slowing of the spread of the virus, as the city would be doing its part in protecting its employees as well as citizens.

In other business, Perry Police Chief Steve Lynn asked council for consideration in allowing the purchase of a two-person virtual reality simulator to be used for training, which he said is very appropriate at the current time.

“The current evolution of these systems gives you a wide range of reality-based options so that you can use every tool in your tool belt, if you will,” Lynn illustrated.

Lynn explained the program would use a “very immersive reality” for an officer to use every skill that they have been taught, which should be being with de-escalation, and could continue up to a situation that would involve deadly force.

“The beauty of this system is that a trained instructor operating it can have the subject that the officer is interacting with either comply, partially comply, not comply, can change the reaction of the subject that’s being interacted with in the virtual reality immersive scenario to basically act as close as possible to the way people that you encounter on the street [would],” Lynn noted, further stating that the department had adequate space for this particular system and that the setup for it was minimal, consisting of a computer, wall sensors, headset and audio input.

Lynn expressed the importance of teaching and reinforcing the use of de-escalation techniques, which he shared, have been in practice with the city for a number of years. Lynn informed that while using the simulator, officers would wear their own duty gear, but would substitute their weapons for ones that would be fashioned for use with the simulator, but would be the same type used by the department in the field.

Lynn said that during training, one of the most difficult things to replicate is the stress experienced in the field, noting that with the scenarios in this system, “…your heart beats faster, your senses are heightened, you’re focused like you would be in the real thing, or very close to it, and that’s one of the great values of this kind of system.”

Lynn informed that though the system is cutting edge, it is not cheap, citing that the introductory price for the state of Georgia, for a bid which the department is locked in on now—for the next 30 days—is $47,500, and after that time frame the price would raise to $95,000.

Lynn also expressed that the system could be used in educating the community, iterating that community members could have their own experience in the simulator.

“…One of the things that’s hard to relay is how quickly an officer in the situation has to make the decision. It’s fractions of seconds sometimes…the reality of it is, in the moment, the decision of it has to be made. This is the best thing I’ve seen to give us that dose of reality about how you have to make that situation,” Lynn professed.

City Manager Gilmour gave the recommendation that council go ahead with the purchase, reasoning that the younger generations learn with these types of technology, and that it allowed for a team approach rather than only one officer.

Mayor Pro Tempore Willie King spoke in favor of the purchase, as did Councilmember Phyllis Bynum Grace.

“…I think the more training that we can get for our officers as well as for our community, to let the public see that we are doing everything that we say: we are not just talking the talk, we’re also walking the walk. I will say our officers are already better trained than most places, but I’d say we are making every effort to make sure this continues, and I think it would be a great thing to do, ” Bynum-Grace maintained.

Council unanimously concurred to allow the purchase.

Also brought before council was the discussion relative to fire safety requirements. City Attorney Brooke Newby reminded council that in 2005 that a resolution was adopted by the city in which there was a transfer of authority of state minimum fire safety standards from the state fire marshal’s office to the local fire marshal, creating a deputized fire marshal, though the state minimum standards were never codified.

Newby said that an ordinance has been prepared for a first reading at Tuesday’s Regular meeting of Mayor and council, which would adopt the state minimum fire safety standards, and also state accessibility code.

Newby explained that contained in the land management ordinance are standards that the city has adopted over time that are above the state minimum. Fire Chief Lee Parker noted that the fire department would ask to maintain the hydrant spacing in the manner stated in the current land management ordinance, as well as to adopt appendices B, C, and D, from the state fire codes, that are contained in the international fire codes.

“Fire hydrants are one of the most visible, yet often overlooked and taken for granted components of a water distribution system. People run over them, knock into them, and plant bushes around them…that’s really our life blood when combating fires.” Said Fire Marshal Michael Paull. Paull informed that the current spacing for hydrants is 500 feet for residential and 300 feet for commercial, and this has been the practice for 14 years, and is currently the standard contained in the land management ordinence. Paull also noted that Appendix C of the international fire code should be adopted as well, which defines fire hydrant locations and distribution.

Paull shared that some factors that are considered when it comes to spacing are things such as available water supply, flow rate, access and response route, among others, fire flow requirements—discussed in Appendix B of the international fire code, which was also asked to be adopted.

Paull also asked that council adopt Appendix D of the international fire code which would deal with fire access roads, which includes issues such as required road width, and access points for certain types of residential areas over a certain number of homes. Paull asked that council adopt the appendix, “to give us the tools and additional flexibility that as Perry grows, that we can provide developers with a clear definition of what is expected.”

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