Peru mayor touts clean up efforts during State of the City address

Greer highlighted those efforts Wednesday evening inside city hall, where a small crowd gathered to hear the first-term mayor deliver his second State of the City address, which offered a buoyant optimism about the future of Peru.

“Block by block, neighborhoods are looking better,” he said. “ … The city is moving forward with a unified vision of cleaning up the town.”

The most visible clean up came through the demolition of 40 dilapidated homes and two crumbling buildings on South Broadway. The demolitions were paid for through city funds, as well as an $813,000 grant awarded to the city in 2014.

“We are cutting the rot of dangerous and dilapidated homes out of our neighborhoods,” Greer said. “… But, we have done more than just tear buildings down. Many homes have been fixed up or brought up to code by owners after being notified by the building commissioner to do so.”

He said police officers and first responders have also worked to combat the city’s drug epidemic by cleaning the streets of heroin and meth.

That effort received a boost last year when the police department brought on two drug-sniffing K9s after raising more than $30,000 in donations to pay for the dogs.

Greer said in just 10 months, the K9s have been deployed 254 times and sniffed out 691 grams of heroin, 589 grams of meth and 90 grams of marijuana.

“Our officers, along with their new K9 companions, are vigilant and working hard under new management to safeguard our city, and the numbers show the results,” he said.

The Peru Fire Department has also helped combat drug deaths after they applied for and received 50 doses of Narcan last month, which were distributed throughout the county to agencies which had previously never had the overdose-reversing drug, Greer said.

Peru Utilities is also set to clean up the city’s water infrastructure after receiving a $550,000 state grant to help fund major upgrades. Greer said in total, the city plans to spend $9 million to provide “better, safer and more efficient delivery of great water for Peru residents.”

But, he said, officials have done more than just clean up the city. Greer said they have also worked to bring new businesses and developments to Peru.

The major focus of those efforts has been the city’s downtown, and those efforts have been spearheaded by the recently formed nonprofit group Rediscover Downtown Peru. Greer said the city last year contributed $20,000 to the organization to help fund grants for downtown business owners to fix up building facades and roofs.

Since then, the nonprofit has given out nearly $50,000 to help pay for renovations on more than a dozen downtown buildings, he said. In addition, the city has purchased awnings for downtown businesses totaling more than $18,000.

Greer said those downtown improvements have been put on display during the newly organized Second Saturday events, which started last month and have brought hundreds of people to the city’s core to shop, see live entertainment and participate in family-friendly events.

“Many of the downtown businesses reported the event as a huge success,” he said. “Other businesses said that they had more people come through their business that night than they typically get in a month.”

Outside downtown development, Greer pointed to the city’s recent agreement to purchase more than 40 acres of former railroad property along the Wabash River as an area of “untapped potential” for recreational or commercial developments.

He also highlighted major developments on the city’s west side, including the construction of a new Casey’s General Store, the eatery Wings Etc. moving into an empty building, and substantial remodels on McDonalds and Pizza Hut.

Greer said in total, new businesses in town will generate up to $90,000 in extra property taxes to fill the city’s coffers.

The mayor ended his speech by encouraging local residents to get involved with all that’s happening in the city, such as attending a downtown festival, volunteering with a nonprofit or shopping at a local store.

“Peru is growing,” Greer said. “We are on the upswing. Let’s keep this going. Great things are happening here in Peru, and I invite everyone to join us.”