On Monday, Nov. 18, members of the Limestone County Commission — including recently elected District 2 Representative Johnny Turner — unanimously voted in favor of an amendment to the existing Fiber Optic Agreement with the City of Athens.

“We are currently working on going to a P25 radio system,” Limestone County Commission Chairman Collin Daly told The News Courier. “The Fiber Optic Agreement is a partnership between the city and county for improvements to our radio systems, as we are dealing with the growing network.”

According to America’s Cyber Defense Agency, the Project 25 land mobile radio systems will provide critical tactical and emergency communications capabilities to public safety agencies.

These agencies not only include government entities such as the city of Athens or the Limestone County Commission, but also the Limestone County Board of Education — which has done work in the past to improve the radio systems on their school buses and between administrators.

Daly also mentioned that they have a radio tower in West Limestone county workers are working to run new fiber cables for, which sparked the resolution passed Monday.

“We’ve been in a longstanding joint agreement with the county for a number of years,” Athens Mayor Ronnie Marks said. “We are all trying to follow up on the work the governor and state officials have done to bring 5G to the area. Most kids can go home and finish their school work on the internet, but unfortunately some families in the county still don’t have that option. We are working together to remove that barrier for them — to enhance the internet and radio systems for all parts of the county.”

To further prove their focus on building up their connectivity infrastructure, during the commission’s meeting at the Clinton Street Courthouse Annex, the commissioners also passed a resolution regarding the work order for the Highway 99 fiber project.

In other business, the commission also:

— Approved claims in the total of $1,538,282.45.

— Approved a resolution to permit funds originally deposited for the benefit of this participant county with the Tennessee Valley Youth Services, under Alabama Code 12-15-215, to stay within the account of Tennessee Valley Youth Services for the purpose of facility maintenance.

— Approved a memorandum of understanding between the Limestone County Commission and the Tennessee Valley Regional Computer Forensics Laboratory to provide digital support to federal, state and local criminal and national security investigations.

— Approved the hire of Monica Sweeney and Adrian Davis as corrections officers, pending a drug screening.

— Approved various merit increases for county employees.

— Approved a minor subdivision development for a re-plat of Tract 5A at the Billy Gene and Linda Gail Posey Farm on the west side of Mooresville Road.