The Atlantic City Council, Wednesday evening approved an order to amend an 18-year old agreement between the City and the Cass County Public Safety Communications Commission. Cass County 9-1-1 Center/Emergency Management Director Mike Kennon explained to the Council, that the amended agreement added the description “28-E” and the word “Communications.” The original agreement in the 1970’s was updated in Oct. 1999 and hasn’t been changed until now. Councilman Gerald Brink asked why Griswold and Anita weren’t included in the agreement. Kennon said at one point in time, when they updated the agreement, Griswold and Anita had their own Police Officers and therefore didn’t feel the need for representation on the Board. Kennon disagreed with that assessment.

Only the City of Atlantic and Cass County are currently included in the agreement. Atlantic pays 23-percent of the cost. The County Board of Supervisors adopted changes to the agreement during their meeting last Wednesday. Mayor Dave Jones said years ago, the Board talked about upping Atlantic’s rate of contribution because of it’s population, but Jones said he won’t allow the rate to be updated anytime soon…and then not until the other cities start contributing.

In other business, the Council approved a cleaning contract with Melissa Johnson for the remainder of FY 2018, at an annual cost of $23,400. Johnson’s bid for the services was the lowest of three received by the City, for cleaning of the Library, City Hall and Police Department. A cleaning service was made necessary, after the Facility Maintenance Manager’s position was eliminated. City Administrator John Lund says going with a private company for the service, will save the City $38,407 per year.

The Council also approved the FY 2017 Urban Renewal Report, which is a standard, annual formality. The report is sent to the Iowa’s Department of Management. And, Police Chief Dave Erickson presented his first Department Head report since becoming Police Chief in January. The Mayor praised Erickson for how well an incident at the High School was handled Monday morning. Erickson said law enforcement and the school cooperated well, and as expected. Prior to adjourning for the night, the Council entered into a closed session to discuss with Legal Counsel, matters related to the Atlantic Municipal Airport.