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HARTINGTON – Cedar County will be rolling out a new way to communicate with its residents.
The County Board of Commissioners approved the purchase of a mass notification system at its regular meeting last week after studying the issue since last month.
Although he wasn’t in attendance at the last regular board meeting, Emergency Manager Kevin Garvin provided a detailed analysis of the advantages and disadvantages of four different service providers, ultimately narrowing it to recommend Hyper-Reach. Hyper-Reach, based in Rochester, N.Y., would be used to send notifications through text message and can be targeted to specific locations in the county, based on need.
While it wasn’t the cheapest provider option, Garvin and the commissioners liked that there was no limit to the number of messages sent through the Hyper-Reach system. The company also provides assistance with implementation and marketing.
Along with natural disasters, the county could use the notification system to alert the public about roads being closed or law enforcement issues, but policies and procedures would need to be determined.
Most likely, dispatchers in the sheriff’s office will be the ones designated to send notifications, the board discussed.
The key will be to use the system only when needed, said County Attorney Ron Temple, suggesting the use of a decision tree.
“Saturation is going to end up being too much and then you’re going to lose the effect of it,” he said.
Commissioner Craig Bartels indicated some concern as to whether residents will sign up for the free alerts.
“If no one signs up, what good does it do?” he asked. But others expressed more optimism as many schools and municipalities already use a mass alert system.
It’s actually a service people have come to expect, Temple said, especially after Missouri River flooding this past summer in the South Sioux City area highlighted residents who were not aware of the impending disaster and became stranded.
Additional information will be provided to county residents on how to sign up for the mass notification alerts once the system is in place - which may be in early 2025.
The Federal Emergency Management Agency is not requiring a public notification system but Garvin said at a previous meeting he expects they could in the future. He earmarked $5,000 in the 911 fund to pay for the Hyper- Reach mass notification system.
As part of its last regular meeting, the board also held a public hearing and re-classified a section of road from local to minimum maintenance.
After commissioner action, a section of 886 Road north of Hartington will be considered minimum maintenance going forward. The road was originally established in 1893.
“We’ve been treating it as minimum maintenance and would like to sign it that way,” said Carla Schmidt, county roads superintendent.
Two of the landowners affected - Kelly Konken and Gerard Arens - appeared at the public hearing.
