The Perry City Council met in regular session Tuesday.

At the meeting, City Administrator Sven Peterson shared information on some future “city council field trips” members are invited to.  He also reported that the Dallas County Supervisors approved the second reading of the airport ordinance amendment at their meeting Tuesday, with the third reading scheduled to be considered for approval at the March 1st meeting.  Peterson also mentioned additional pilot programs the City is working on with students from Drake University, the writing intern that is working in Perry this semester and the historic preservation project Iowa State University students are working on.

Mayor Jay Pattee then spoke about the recent Metro Alliance Council meeting he attended at the state capitol.  He says they discussed several topics including schools, local option sales tax,

Councilman Dean Berkland also thanked everyone who put on the Bike Ride to Rippey this year.  He says it was a fun day, well organized and safe ride for all.

During open forum, a resident addressed the Council in regards to complaints about snow removal and junk in her neighborhood.  She says her neighbors do not take care of their property and Perry is “supposed to be a beautiful place but it looks like a junkyard.”  The resident said she it’s time the community comes together as one and expressed frustration with getting the “run around” when calling City Hall or trying to speak with staff and elected officials.

A public hearing in regards to the issuance of a $2.7 million general obligation loan agreement was then held.  This is for improvements to streets and bridges, installation of traffic signals and the refinancing of a 2008 general obligation bond. Bids for the bonds will be accepted until April 4th and the funds will be delivered by May 4th.  Finance Officer Susie Moorhead stated that the public hearing is being held before the bonds are sold because they need prior notification before approving a levy. A resolution approving the loan agreement and pre-levy authorization was later approved

The second public hearing of the night was in regards to the Pattee Park expansion project.  Six bids were submitted for the project.  The Council later approved the low bid of $323,108 from Spring Lake Construction out of Polk City.  This is nearly 24% below the engineer’s estimate for the project of almost $424,000.  The Council also approved the alternate bid for additional work on the soccer fields at the park, this comes at an additional cost of $128,249 for a total of $451,357.  Construction is expected to be completed by the end of October, with seeding on the soccer fields in the spring of 2017 and potential use possible in the fall of next year.

The Council also accepted grant funds from the Iowa Department of Transportation for the Willis Avenue bridge project, which will be going out for bid in April.

Finally, public hearing in regards to the fiscal year 2017 proposed budget was then set for the March 7th Council meeting.

For more information on these topics and other happenings in the City of Perry, tune into today’s Let’s Talk Dallas County when we speak with City Administrator Sven Peterson during the 9am, noon and 5pm hours.