The Kirksville City Council approved the purchase of a mass notification system from ReGroup during its meeting on Monday at City Hall. The agreement is a five-year deal and will cost the city $6,500 for the first year and $5,500 for the subsequent years.
Kirksville Deputy Fire Chief Jon Cook said the new system will provide emergency and routine notifications through email, text, phone calls and social media to subscribers.
The system also allows the city to send out Wireless Emergency Alerts, similar to Amber Alerts, and reach active cellphone users in a specific area, regardless if they're a subscriber.
"After some administrative work with FEMA, we'll be able to do wireless emergency alerts, we'll be able to originate those messages...and allows us to target any cellphone in a geographical area, whether or not they're subscribed to a system," Cook said. "It's a very powerful tool to have."
In other business, City Council members readopted an ordinance that establishes procedures for disclosing conflicts of interest. The city is required to readopt this ordinance by Sept. 15 of each year.
"The procedures require Council members to disclose any personal or private interest in any bill and to abstain from voting on any matters relating to this interest," city documents state. "The city manager must file a disclosure report by May 1 of each year which identifies businesses he/she owns or has a substantial interest in, employers who paid him/her more than $500 and any corporate boards on which he/she serves."
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