First responders for the City of Troy soon will have a back-up radio system in thanks to a rewiring of the city’s current system, which is approximately 17 years old.

Police Chief Jimmy Ennis told the council members about the new radio system on Tuesday. The new system, called “Raven,” will be put in place after the rewiring of both the Troy Police Department and the courtroom located in City Hall.

“ “It is coordinated with Southern Linc,’ Ennis said. “It would enable us to have a back up radio system in case the main one were to go down. Every officer would have one, as well as with their regular police radio, and if something were to go down with that then we could operate on this system. Several other places have gone to this, such as Pratville … I think it will enhance our computer capabilities and with the new CAD system and new record system coming. It will be beneficial.”

The update to the wiring and Raven were included in the City’s budget, and Mayor Jason Reeves said the wiring was well within the approximately $80,000 the city had set aside for the rewiring.

“It is well within the budget,” Reeves said. “The apparent low bidder meeting specifications was Pruitt Communications, with a bid of $64,867.62.”

In other business, the Square will soon see a new restaurant on the corner of Three Notch Street and East Church Street. The Sweet Rack Rib Shack was approved for a liquor license contingent upon the owners fixing several things inside the business and meeting fire code regulations.

Amanda Dickens, wife of Chris, spoke to the council and expressed her and her husband’s excitement of coming back to Troy.

We are so excited to be coming back to Troy,” she said. “I’m not originally from Troy, I’m from Eufaula, but I did go to Troy for my college. We actually opened Sweet Rack Rib Shack in Tallahassee.”

The news was welcomed by the council. “As The Square has thrived that has been a location that we wanted to see someone move into, and we are excited that some hometown folks are going to do that,” said Councilman George Meeks, District 2.  “We wish you the best and if there is anything we can do, let us know.”

Chris Dickens also said the restaurant was up for an honor that would recognize “Sweet Rack” as one of the top 100 restaurants in the nation.

“We are in the running for one of the top 100 restaurants in April,” Chris said. We received an email today wanting a copy of the menu and photos of the building, so we feel we are in good shape. This would just be another calling card for Troy. People follow these TV series around and give restaurants a thumbs up or thumbs down, so we are excited for that, too.”

Visitors to Troy could now also see two new billboards on U.S. 231, which will allow for the city to purchase ad space on both digital and fixed billboards.

“We have a transportation planning grant for the downtown area, and a as a part of those discussions we have had an interest of trying to advertise on the highway on the new ATRIP corridor on Three Notch Street,” Reeves said. “We had an opportunity to sign up fpr a rate that would be favorable for two billboards. They would be a combined $700 once we get everything worked out.”

Councilwoman DJ Henderson expressed her support for the idea.

“This is really, I think, dirt cheap price for us to be able to get those billboards,” Henderson said. “I think it’s great.”

In other items of business the council:

• Approved Resolution 2015-19, which accepted the bid from Hi-Q products for the new Troy Parks and Recreation Department uniforms. The decision was made based upon the cost for the amount of items the city order for the 2014 seasons.

• Approved the appointment of Maybell Williams to the Board of Adjustments with her term ending in Dec. 2017.

• Heard from Ann Felton, president of Troy Alumnae Chapter of Delta Sigma Sorority, Inc. Felton expressed her gratitude for City Council members and thanked them for all the hard work they have done.

• Offered condolences to the Blakely, Ross, Banks and Copeland families for their recent losses.