Early-week meetings for municipalities kick off ’18

Local boards are back in business at the beginning of this week after press time with plans for a busy start to 2018 as the cities of Cedartown and Rockmart, the school board and Polk County all have meetings planned for the week.

County commissioners are set to gather for their first board meeting of 2018, with more comments over the Grady Road Landfill set for the beginning of their Monday session after press time.

Ed Burnley and Glenn Campbell are both back on the agenda to discuss their issues with the landfill, and delegations are also expected to speak as Robert Sprague was on the agenda to speak about Lefevers Road and Rick and Parker Crawford coming to speak about Grady Road recreational property. Commissioners are also expected to hear from County Attorney Brad McFall on a growing campaign to get states and localities on board class action lawsuits against drug companies that pro- duce opiate medications.

Polk County Manager Matt Denton said McFall was presenting the issue to seek whether the board wanted to enter into the lawsuit, which claims that drug companies who make opioid pain medications failed to notify the public about its risks for addiction.

A number of communities around the country have joined in suing drug manufacturers in response to the growing opioid epidemic.

Retirement issues, the cameras at the Polk County courthouse, signage at the convenience centers and more are part of the county’s Monday night agenda for the meeting held after press time.

Cedartown City Commissioners also had a busy Monday agenda.

They have swearing in commissioners to complete, plus delegations for a variety of issue, a first reading of an annexation, appointing a new solicitor and more to cover during their meeting.

For those who get the paper on Tuesday, a trio of meetings are planned for tonight. The Board of Education will open the night with their meeting at 6 p.m. in the board meeting room at the central office at 612 S. College St., Cedartown. An agenda for that meeting was available at press time. The City of Rockmart’s first council meeting is also scheduled Tuesday night for 7 p.m. at city hall on Piedmont Avenue. No agenda was available for that meeting yet either at press time over the weekend.

Polk County Commission gather for their regular meeting to start 2018, with the January session featuring a number of items to cover. Commissioners will select a new chair and vice chair for the year, plus approving a chair for the Board of Elections, approving use of courthouse grounds for the Sanctity of Life event on Jan. 27, approving agreements for Intertech Probation and aerial photography, setting qualifying fees for commission races this year and more.

Check back i n next week’s edition for more on how those meetings went and more.