"It's a mutual aid agreement throughout the state," said Police Chief Robert Jones. "Emergency management -- GEMA, FEMA -- what that does is it allows a quicker response utilizing Bartow County EMA and the state assets that they have through GEMA to come in a lot quicker without having to formally request it. ... You already have it in place."
The council also approved the 2011 Confiscated Assets Budget for the police department. It consists of items seized during drug busts in 2011, and all the funds will go toward law enforcement enhancement. Examples of these purchases include the department's new speed trailer and K9 unit.
A sign variance request from Vanguard trucking was approved, as was the rezoning application from Ovelle Barton to turn the former preschool on Summer Street into a funeral home. The proposed purchase of a 72-inch deck Grasshopper lawnmower was approved as well, at a cost of $10,768.
Ken Miller, Adairsville's representative to the Bartow County Library Board of Trustees and its chair, announced the new hours for Adairsville's library. Starting July 1 the library will be open four hours on Saturdays as part of a six-month trial period ending Dec. 31. Miller added that hours will be shifted from another weekday.
"They will close the library Wednesday afternoons for four hours to help offset the cost," he said.
Miller asked the council to consider putting an ad on the June or July water bills to promote the new hours, as the library will be monitoring attendance on Saturdays to determine if the change was worthwhile.