Perry approves fees for events, fire inspections

The City Council on Tuesday approved new fees for special events and for fire marshal inspections.

Anyone holding a special event that requires a city permit will now have to pay $60. Previously there had been no charge.

City Councilman Randall Walker said the fee was to cover personnel costs for making sure there are no issues of concern with a special event. A permit is typically required when an event might shut down a portion of a city street.

Walker, the mayor pro-tem, was acting as mayor in the absence of Mayor Jimmy Faircloth. Faircloth was attending a conference related to his job at Central Georgia Technical College.

The council also approved fees for when a fire marshal inspection is needed. Previously the city did not have a fire marshal and the same fees were paid for the state fire marshal to do the inspection.

City Manager Lee Gilmour said the city has not charged the fees since it hired a fire marshal but decided to start doing so to help cover the cost.

The fees mostly apply to certain businesses such as hotels. It would apply to apartment complexes but not to single-family residential homes.

A site review fee of $120 would be charged to look at a site such a planned subdivision to determine whether there are fire-related issues such as with hydrant placements. A fee of $150 would be charged for a fire alarm inspection or a fire sprinkler system inspection. A fee of $150 would be required for inspection of a new structure that requires a fire inspection.

The City Council held a public hearing on the proposed fees at its last meeting and no one spoke.

This story was originally published October 4, 2016 at 7:49 PM with the headline "Perry approves fees for events, fire inspections."