Perry looks at ‘first’ free

The good news is it’s now “free.” The bad news is it might not be something you’d like to pick up. That would be an “accident and incident” report from the Perry Police Department.

Previous city policy, explained Chief Steve Lynn to the council on Monday, was to charge $8 for the “first” report. However, he added, a person picking up a report complained to the city that nobody else charged – again, for the “first” report.

“That in turn had my office looking and (we) found out, indeed that is not the practice of other agencies in Middle Georgia – to charge for the first report for accidents and incidents.”

Lynn’s recommendation then was to change the policy to providing the first one free.

“When the request is for additional information beyond the initial accident or incident report, established Open Records procedures will be applied,” his letter to the council read.

The policy was agreed upon but may take some time before going into effect. City Manager Lee Gilmour said it would be implemented with their “concurrence, but with a resolution to adjust to accommodate it coming at a later date.”

In other action, the council turned down a sidewalk project that would have run from Park Avenue down North Davis Drive to Houston Lake Road. The cost to including grading, pipe extensions, grassing, etc – the width of it being 6-foot – was estimated at $295,000.

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