The Perry City Council tabled an agenda item Monday after a motion to approve the vacation of public owned property failed to receive a second.

This came after three citizens addressed the Council during both the open forum and public hearing on the topic, stating they feel Perry already has a surplus of “low income housing”.  Though City Administrator Butch Niebuhr says that’s not actually what the proposed projects are.

“We don’t use that term anymore and that term isn’t in anything that we have.  Anything that we have in state aid and state tax credits is all called low to moderate income.  All of our income based data comes as average/medium income for household income.  So we really don’t deal in low income, that isn’t even in our language, it’s always low to moderate” says Niebuhr.

The vacation of property request came from Bear Development who is looking to build a 38-plex housing unit across Willis Avenue from the public safety building, if approved for tax credits from the Iowa Housing Authority. Bear does not yet own the property, but if the project goes as they hope they were looking for the City to vacate an alleyway and some additional property in the space.

Niebuhr says experts are saying there’s a need for such housing in Perry.

“These housing studies are coming up with there is a need for that housing.  When you look at 38 units, an extra 20 units, another 28 units, it must be that the need is up around that 50 to 100 units otherwise the state wouldn’t fund it.”

We’ll have more with Niebuhr on today’s Let’s Talk Dallas County during the 9am, noon and 5pm hours on AM 1310 KDLS.