In an effort to improve communications during disasters, the city of Athens is considering purchasing new cellular phones for essential departments.

At the May 29 council meeting, city spokesperson Holly Hollman said purchasing the phones from SouthernLINC would provide a backup communication method in case of mass power outages or downed cellular towers. First responders and department heads with the city and Limestone County faced those same issues following the April 27, 2011, tornadoes.

Mayor Ronnie Marks said the only way some department heads could communicate that day was through text messaging.

“It’s a lonesome feeling when you’re in the middle of a disaster and you can’t talk to anybody,” he said.

The council may vote at Monday’s meeting to approve a contract with SouthernLINC for 16 phones that would be used only in case of a disaster. Marks said the plan the council would likely adopt is a standby plan that costs just $80 per month, or $5 per phone.

The contract would also give the city the ability to change the plan immediately to unlimited coverage in case of an emergency. If the plan is not changed, however, the usage cost would be about $1 per minute on the standby plan.

“We’ll have a person in the utilities department and one in the general fund who will be ready to pull the trigger to call and change it immediately,” he said.

Debbie Brookman with SouthernLINC told council members at the May meeting that the phones would primarily utilize the Push-To-Talk feature, similar to how walkie-talkies work. She said former fire chief Danny Southard had one of the phones, which he used as a third or fourth backup.

“We work with the (state) EMA in Clanton, so when (April 27) happened, everything started there and filtered down,” she said. “It gives us the advantage to ensure first responders can talk.”

Brookman said SouthernLINC service did not suffer statewide outages like many cellular service providers during the tornadoes. The company’s towers are built to withstand high winds, she said, part of lessons learned from Hurricane Katrina in 2005.

The only county that did lose service was Morgan County, she said. However, SouthernLINC brought in a temporary cell site and restored service.

“We did that within 48 hours,” she said. “We have the ability to do that should (a tower) go down.”

The Athens City Council meets at 5:30 p.m. Monday at the Athens Police Department on Hobbs Street. A work session begins at 4:30 p.m.