PERRY, Ga. — Motorsport racer Bobby Unser once said, "Success is where preparation and opportunity meet."
Hoping to have a successful fundraising event, John Cannon started getting prepared Friday for their Broncos v.s. Jeeps event.
They're holding it Saturday from 10:00 a.m. - 3:00 p.m. at his store, Broken Arrow Outfitters, in Perry.
"Twenty dollar entry fee to get in, or bring in five school supplies that will be donated to kids needing school supplies for the next year," Cannon shared.
They opened their store in 2013. They sell everything from guns, to bow and arrows, clothes, and more. Since their opening, they've seen a lot of development around them.
"We get a lot of interstate traffic here. being right off the side of I-75 as well, but we are starting to see more and more people who are moving to this area and becoming new customers," he said.
So like Unser and Cannon, Perry leaders are getting prepared too.
"The strategic plan is the document that we utilize to essentially drive all of our operations here at the city of Perry," Assistant City Manager Robert Smith said.
Each year, some people create lists of their short and long term goals. Local governments do the same. They're what they refer to as strategic plans. This week Perry leaders met to talk about their progress in their plan which is designed to cover years through 2027.
Right now the plan says, they hope to provide prompt fire response times that exceed the city standard.
However, the fire department shared the city doesn't have a set time standard for response.
"The chief proposed to us that he would like to see a response time of 5:30 - 6:00 response time anywhere in the city," Smith said.
During the meeting leaders asked the chief if this was a standard for city's of their similar size. The chief shared that he would have to do more research but knew of one like-size agency that had a six minute standard.
He also shared that it could help the city plan for future growth as it pertains to a new station.
In February, we told you about numbers that showed they aren't meeting that time in growing areas. However, in March their average response time was just under six minutes.
"We believe that our fire response times are adequate for the community, but we do understand the chiefs desire to have some type of benchmark," Smith shared.
Smith said right now they are in an evaluation phase. They will start collecting data that could help them set that mark, and create better plans for the future.
"Based on discussion surrounding that data make a discussion on whether we need a new fire station, or have a discussion on if we need more fire personnel," he said.
However, they also brainstormed other options during the meeting.
"We have an excellent relationship with the other local governments in our area, particularly Houston County and we will have conversations with them in regards to the possibility on co-locating on certain locations and working with them in making sure that everyone in the city of Perry is receiving the best fire service the city of Perry can provide," he said.
This plan spans out to 2027, at this point they are looking only at preparation measures for a new station.