City departments soon will have more comprehensive information technology support, as the Calera City Council agreed to enter into a service contract with Shelby County.

The contract, passed during a Nov. 2 City Council meeting, will go into effect Dec. 1, and will cost the city $3,500 per month.

Although the city previously handled technology support in-house, the contract with the county will bring “more hands” to the city when computer problems arise, Mayor George Roy said.

“This will allow us to have more hands available when we have problems like we did recently that almost shut down our engineering department,” Roy told the council.

In other business, the council also approved a pair of purchases to improve two emergency responder facilities.

The council voted unanimously to purchase a smoke exhaust fan for the Calera Fire Department, and agreed to purchase a camera security system for the Calera Police Department.

Deputy Fire Chief Hilton Shirey said the exhaust fan will replace a broken unit used to clear smoke from buildings.

“It would cost $500 to get the old one fixed, but we could get a new one for $625,” Shirey said.

The security cameras will be installed to “keep an eye” on police department equipment currently being moved into a new building, said Police Chief Sean Lemley.

The security system likely will cost about $800, and will come out of money already budgeted to the department for technology hardware needs.