Chatham-Kent could soon see an upgrade to its public emergency notification system.
Chatham-Kent administration is recommending that council approve the purchase of the Everbridge Alerting System for a five-year trial period, which would allow the municipality to send targeted mass notifications to residents by phone, text message, email, and app notifications.
For example, if a water main break affects a single block, Everbridge has geotargeting capabilities that allow messages to be sent to only those affected within that area.
The Everbridge software, which is used by neighbouring municipalities such as Windsor, Essex County, Sarnia, Lambton County, and London, is seen as an industry standard.
The cost of the five-year pilot program would be $25,000 per year, plus $10,000 annually for media and marketing expenses, for a total of $175,000. The funding would be allocated from the municipality’s Legacy Wells Municipal Grant.
Further funding past the five-year trial would be referred to the 2029 budget process for council review and potential approval.
According to a report coming to council, Chatham-Kent is continuing to experience large scale public emergencies that require immediate public notification. In response to those incidents, council asked administration in 2000 and in 2023 to look into a public alerting system that would provide more options to alert the public.