Perry City Council accepts building from Houston Healthcare

PERRY — City Council agreed to accept a free mobile building from Houston Healthcare on Monday night. The city will pay for the building to be relocated from the hospital in Warner Robins to Perry’s animal shelter within two weeks.

Mayor Jimmy Faircloth learned about the opportunity on Friday and shared it with the council at Monday’s work session. He said action was required Tuesday because the hospital must move the building due to contracts.

After a 40-minute pre-council meeting full of back-and-forth discussion, the resolution passed 4-1 with Councilman Randall Walker voting against accepting the building and Councilwoman Phyllis Bynum-Grace absent.

The opportunity to receive the structure comes at a critical time for the city’s animal control services. The council is exploring options for building a new facility at a different location or outsourcing services to the city of Warner Robins. Building a new facility would cost about $650,000, something Faircloth said won’t be feasible for the city for at least a few years. In the meanwhile, Faircloth deemed the current shelter unacceptable.

In Tuesday’s pre-council meeting, Faircloth gave the council a rough estimate of what it would cost to relocate the building.

“You’re looking at most $13,000 or $14,000, then we would have to run water and sewer with it,” Faircloth said.

Davis Cosey, a member of Friends Of Perry Animal Shelter who was present for the pre-council meeting, said Scott Westmoreland, a member of Houston Healthcare’s Board of Trustees, approached him about the building recently, so he visited it.

“I’d never been in any kind of mobile building or temporary building that nice,” Cosey told council. “When you look at whether it could be incorporated into a shelter, I think it can ... I think the value it has to getting us where we need to be, as far as having a healthy and user-friendly shelter, I think it can certainly be accommodating.”

Walker asked if accepting the building would preclude the city from moving forward with options it is exploring.

“This, to me, has never been part of our long-term strategic plan,” Walker said in the pre-council meeting. “We put together a large number of alternatives ... There’s a cost associated with (accepting the building) and is that a good use of taxpayer money?”

Councilman Willie King told Walker the long-term plan can be “adjusted to whatever we want. We can take this building and we can work it into our plan.”

“I feel that it’s a good deal,” King said. “I believe that if we do happen to get the building ... It will be a purpose to move forward and a way. Anything could be improved.”

Councilmen Robert Jones and William Jackson said they were torn. On one hand, they were wary of the uncertain cost and, on the other, they saw the building as a much needed improvement.

In other business, Perry’s downtown district could soon welcome additional businesses in the 900 block of Ball Street. A public hearing was held for the rezoning of three residential properties owned by Alpha Strategies LLC, LaRuss Properties LLC and Ocmulgee Developments LLC. The lots will be zoned for commercial development should the council adopt the measure after the second reading next meeting.

To contact writer Laura Corley, call 744-4334 or follow her on Twitter @Lauraecor.

This story was originally published September 15, 2015 at 8:43 PM with the headline "Perry City Council accepts building from Houston Healthcare ."