Free Movie in Perry This Morning
There’s another free entertainment option in Perry this weekend.
Several local merchants have teamed up to offer a free movie showing Saturday at Perry’s Grand Theatre.
Everyone is invited to check out Alvin and the Chipmunks at 11am Saturday. Parents can either bring their kids with them or let the older ones check out the film while they finish their Christmas shopping at any of the local businesses.
This is the first merchant movie in Perry, though if successful the goal is to make it a regular event.
Santa Visits the Perry Hy-Vee Today
The Perry Hy-Vee will be a busy place this weekend with several Christmas themed events
Everyone is invited to come enjoy All-You-Can-Eat pancakes with Santa Saturday from 8-10am thanks to the store and the Perry Booster Club. Tickets are $4 each. Then from 9am-11am, Mr. Clause will pose for photos with the children.
In addition, Saturday is one of your last shots to qualify for the Raccoon Valley Radio $1,000 Christmas Cash Giveaway. You can sign up when you donate to our 3rd annual Caring Christmas Food Drive from 10am until noon, with all donations going to support the Perry food bank.
Dry Month Continues in the Raccoon River Valley
After a cold and cloudy week, it may have felt like we registered some precipitation but it didn’t amount to much.
According to the National Weather Service, Perry has seen only 0.08 inch of rain so far this month. Jefferson and Guthrie Center have received around 0.2 inch in the first three weeks.
Typically, our local weather reporting stations see between 1.2 and 1.4 inches of precipitation in December. Our next shot adding to the total comes Sunday and Monday.
Perry Police Host Another Successful Shop with a Cop Program
Several Perry families will be able to have a Merry Christmas this year thanks to the annual Shop with a Cop program.
Sergeant Detective Jerome Hill with the Perry Police Department says they were able to help 29 local families this year and officers will also be giving $100 gift cards to an additional 13 families.
This past Saturday, police officers, dispatchers, firefighters, EMTs and volunteers gave the children $150 to spend at the Perry Dollar General, Shopko, Alco and Ben Franklin. In addition, each family also received groceries to make a Christmas dinner thanks to Hy-Vee, Fareway and Tyson.
Hill says, as always, they received very good feedback from the program. Officers said the kids were great and everyone was appreciative.
They’re already collecting donations for next year’s Shop with a Cop program. For more information, contact the Perry Police Department.
Perry City Council Meeting Recap
The Perry City Council met in regular session last night.
At the meeting, City Administrator Butch Niebuhr reminded the Council and those in attendance Cultural District Revitalization Open House tonight from 4:30-7pm at La Poste. He also said an Iowa State class is hoping to do another public art project here in Perry during the spring semester. He hopes to have the project done by the end of May or early June. The Drake University project with the Iowa Economic Development Authority is expected to begin in mid-January and may spread over two semesters and involve several colleges at Drake.
Mayor Jay Pattee then spoke about how the administrative staff did a good job of trimming budgets in anticipation of the commercial property tax cuts and mentioned commercial versus residential housing and tax abatements and their impacts on cities. Councilman Dr. Randy McCaulley then commended Police Chief Eric Vaughn for his recent presentation on ALICE training at the Perry Lutheran Home and the work he has done to make people in the community prepared for an armed intruder situation.
Ryan Peterson with the Greater Dallas County Development Alliance then addressed the Council during open forum to update them on the services the group offers and what kind of things they have helped the community with in the past.
Next a public hearing was held in regards to entering into a land lease option and lease agreement for the brownfields area to allow for future development of the parcel. The agreement is between the City and Megawatt Photovoltaic Development. The goal is to build a small utility scale solar field. A representative from Megawatt addressed the Council and answered questions, the Council unanimously approved the lease option and agreement.
The Council then set a public hearing for January 19th in regards to a request to vacate a public owned right-of-way. The request is for an alleyway and 18 foot strip along the west side of Block 22 of Original Town. Bear Development currently has a purchase agreement with the owners of parcels surrounding this property. That agreement to buy the land and build a multi-family housing structure depends on funding they have applied for from the Iowa Finance Authority.
A Board and Commission Training with the Institute of Public Affairs at the University of Iowa was then approved. This two hour program is designed for old and new members of city boards and commissions and presents basic laws and concepts.
A permanent fund transfer was then approved to close out the 2014 Hot Mix Asphalt Resurfacing Project fund. The total project cost was $335,784, with $200,000 coming from the 2013B General Obligation Bond Issue.
Another public hearing was scheduled for January 5th in regards to voluntary annexation request from Wilford Roberts and the City of Perry.
Judy Marckres and John Palmer were then re-appointed to the Perry Historic Preservation Commission and Marion Valero-Lehman of Adel was appointed to the Perry Volunteer Fire Department. Butch Niebuhr was appointed City Administrator through December 31st of 2016, City Clerk Corey Eastman, Finance Officer and Treasurer Susie Moorhead, City Attorney DuWayne Dalen, Police Chief Eric Vaughn and Fire Chief Chris Hinds were also reappointed to their respective positions.
Official publications for the 2015 calendar year were then approved, along with the second and final readings of ordinances setting a 30 mile per hour speed zone and no parking area for the newly completed portion of 18th Street between McKinley and Park Streets.