Perry is a member of the Beaver Creek Watershed Management Authority, and as a show of support, the City has agreed to provide funds to help with the development of a management plan.

At the most recent Perry City Council meeting, a resolution was approved to contribute $1,000 out of the City’s stormwater fund. The money will be used to support a grant application by the WMA to the Iowa Department of Natural Resources. Beaver Creek WMA was formed in 2016, and in that time they’ve been operating without a management plan. The funding provided by the DNR for the plan would be limited to $100,000, but the WMA needs to provide a minimum in-kind cash contribution of $25,000.

Perry City Administrator Sven Peterson says each city and county with representation in the WMA has been asked to make a contribution to the grant application. “So this planning grant will put together an idea of what all could be done/needs to be done within that watershed area. Hopefully some projects from Perry get into that plan. And then from that plan we would be eligible to apply for other grants, bringing in more funds into the community. So this is definitely an investment, maybe a little bit longer term investment, but definitely something that’s going to be worth putting money into and worth being a part of.”

Peterson adds, though Perry was only asked to provide around $600, based on their landmass area in the watershed, the City thought it would benefit everyone if they put in a little more. To learn more about this and other topics from the recent Perry City Council meeting, listen to last Tuesday’s Perry Fareway Let’s Talk Dallas County program at RaccoonValleyRadio.com.