The City of Perry was presented with a large grant from the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) Region 7 on Friday at Caboose Park. 

Mayor of Perry John Andorf and City Administrator Sven Peterson accepted the EPA’s Brownfields Assessment Grant on behalf of the City of Perry for the amount of $375,000. The community-wide assessment grant is meant for communities that are beginning to address their brownfield challenges along with showing the willingness to bring those sites back to productive use. Andorf says they have a target area that this money will go towards rehabbing a 2.7 acre multi-parcel site with a history of cement production, the vacant ice cream production site and a two-story vacant building. Andorf told Raccoon Valley Radio that he was pleased when he got the news that the city was a recipient of this grant. 

“It’s very exciting for Perry to have this opportunity. As was mentioned during the presentation, we competed against many communities, about 150, and we were one of one of few that got a grant. We were very excited about that and happy to see what it brings forth.”

EPA Region7 Land, Chemical and Redevelopment Division Director Jeff Robichaud says that this assessment grant is the first step in creating a cleaner and revitalized downtown for the City of Perry residents. Robichaud talked about why they choose the City of Perry over other communities. 

“Because the work that Perry has already previously done kind of put them head and shoulders above many of the other communities out there. But as I mentioned, we were driving around and noticing so much opportunity for redevelopment and so we knew this was a place that those resources were going to go a lot farther than East Coast, West Coast and has a track record for doing great work with money.”

Robichaud says that usually big cities get these grants, but he described the City of Perry as punching above their weight. He mentioned that Des Moines and Ames were left out as recipients.