ROBERTSDALE, Ala. — Robertsdale police will be communicating with the county’s E-911 system at the speed of light in a few months.

The city has hired B&L Cable Construction of Andalusia to handle the connection that is expected to cost more than $23,000. The costs include about $8,800 in materials and $14,700 in labor. All the councilors with the exception of Sue Cooper, were present at the meeting.

The city’s share of the connection cost will be $6,785, and the county will pick up $16,720.

“This will improve dispatch times,” explained City Engineer Greg Smith. “It cuts own on repetitive data entry and eliminates error.”

“It will save us a lot of time,” said Police Chief Brad Kendrick, explaining that currently a county dispatcher has to take all the information on a call and then make contact with a city dispatcher. While the system works, there are unavoidable delays that will be eliminated with the advent of the fiber optic system and a direct connection. The system will enable a county dispatcher to “just hit a button” to connect a Robertsdale dispatcher.

“It will save us a lot of time,” said Kendrick, adding that the system will provide the police department better access to county records.

“It may allow the county to look at us, too,” added Kenderick, saying that the county will be able to check to see if Robertsdale has a suspect in custody. The reverse will be true as well, making the Robertsdale force more efficient.

“We have been talking about doing (a fiber optic connection) for two or three years now,’ said Mayor Charles Murphy. “The county is very receptive.”

He added that the city is looking into a fiber optic connection from City Hall to the police station, something that will cost that will cost $17,683.24, according to an estimate by B&L Cable Construction.

Right now, only Gulf Shores has a fiber optic connection with the county, but other municipalities are studying the situation, Murphy said.

While much of the cable will go underground, some of it does have to be put up on existing power poles. When asked after the meeting how such a system, which transmits voice and data through tiny glass cables with light, would fare in a storm, Murphy said that the system would have redundancies built in and there would be a certain amount of “slack” on the lines, allowing them to move in a strong wind.

Also on the agenda, the city is seeking “Request for Proposals” for a “Wi FI” system. The city has discussed the system with Honeywell, and would fund the system with a federal grant. The mayor assured the council that the city would only go forward with the plan if a grant could be secured.