New aerial maps of Floyd County are being uploaded onto the city-county website and will be available for public viewing within the next few weeks.

The maps are part of the Geographical Information System, which contains data about zoning, property ownership, city boundaries and other land features.

Rome-Floyd County Planning Director Sue Hiller said the updated photography cost $6,600, with 80 percent reimbursable through transportation planning grants.

The last time the county was flown, in 2008, the mapping cost about $90,000.

City Manager John Bennett attributed the drop in price to improvements in digital camera technology and increased demand for aerial photography. That means the provider can now sell the same maps to multiple customers.

“Georgia Power Co. uses it. Chain stores want it for marketing studies. It’s beneficial to everyone,” he noted.

Hiller’s announcement came during Tuesday’s meeting of the joint development oversight committee.

She also reported that planners statewide are seeing the rise of internet cafes as a potential problem for unprepared jurisdictions.

The issue isn’t coffee shops set up with wireless access, she said, but rooms set up for online gaming in convenience stores and other outlets. The gaming is legal, as long as there are no monetary prizes, but Bennett said there’s cause for concern.

“It’s also a way to change legal gaming into illegal gambling,” he said. “That’s very hard to track.”

Police already are looking into enforcement options. Hiller said business licensing and parking are other areas that may need regulation.