By JAN GRIFFEY/Editor

COLUMBIANA — City of Columbiana residents are encouraged to sign up for the city’s new email and text message alerts.

Mayor Allan Lowe said a city resident, Bentley Farr, suggested city officials take a look at using emails and text message technology to alert citizens when severe weather is imminent, or when the city simply wants to inform citizenry of upcoming events and issues.

That technology is in place now and ready for citizens to put to use.

“Someone can go to our website, CityofColumbiana.com, and they can subscribe to text messages and emails from the city,” Lowe said.

“We will send out alerts when weather advisories are issues, as well as police issues, like be-on-the-lookouts and other public safety issues, like roads closed or trees down,” he said.

Residents can go to the city’s website and sign up for email messages. They can also sign up for text message alerts by either texting a message described on the website, or by following the city on Twitter. Residents can choose to receive texts involving city news or city public safety issues or both.

“I’m hoping it will evolve into being able to host surveys and take comments from residents, which we will use to prioritize what we need to do,” Lowe said.

“The most important thing is we will be able to let people know when the public safety is at risk, like severe weather. Most people keep their cell phones on and close during the night,” he said. “It’s another tool for keeping people informed with what’s happening in and around the city.”