The Perry City Council convened Monday evening in regular session.

During the City Administrator’s report, Sven Peterson talked about the progress of the sally port project, reminded everyone of the closures and garbage route changes for Thanksgiving, and talked about their methods of getting public service announcements out to the citizens. He also invited Matt Farrier from Bolton and Menk to talk about the latest on the soccer complex project. The original contractor has been officially terminated after not meeting an ultimatum, and the City will now move forward with the bonding agents to get the project completed.

In old business, the Council discussed adding two additional yard waste pick-up days, with the last one being on Wednesday, December 6th. Council member Dr. Randy McCaulley, also requested they consider extending the open burning dates to include November 27th through December 6th. The Council approved the additional dates. Other agenda items that were approved included: a pay request for the sally port project; the submission of the tax increment funds (TIF) debt information to the County Auditor, and the annual financial report to the State Auditor; a contract for the “In the Shadow of the Rails” art project; the donation of the “Iowa Girl” sculpture; and amending the professional service agreement with Bolton and Menk to include overseeing the sewer improvement project.

Additionally, the Council agreed to a contract with Retail Strategies, LLC for their Retail Academy. Peterson explained, it’s a program that will research and analyze Perry’s economic growth, which will hopefully help the City attract and keep more businesses. The cost for the program is $10,000, which will be paid in part by the Chamber of Commerce and Economic Development Group. Finally, the Council approved holding a work session on December 1st for the City’s department heads to give their year end reports.