Woodstock residents will soon be able to sign up for emergency and community alerts after the Town Board authorized a contract for a new notification system last week.
“It’s not just a weather alert. It can be anything,” said board member Laurie Osmond, who spearheaded the initiative.
Residents could receive alerts about road closures, downed trees, town hall meetings, and other notices, Osmond said.
Supervisor Anula Courtis said residents will be able to sign up through a link on the town website or Facebook page, or through QR codes posted around town. They can choose to receive notices by cellphone, landline, voicemail, text, or email.
For residents who use landlines or have limited internet access, the town is considering holding in-person informational meetings to help them sign up. The board has yet to finalize details of the rollout, Courtis said.
The board consulted with officials in Shandaken, which already has a community alert system, before choosing a provider. After seeing a demonstration of Shandaken’s system, Woodstock decided to contract with Rave Alert, a Motorola Solutions emergency notification service, for $5,700 in the first year and $4,500 annually for the following four years.
Courtis said the board will discuss public outreach and implementation in the coming weeks. Registration could open within 30 days.
Hurley, Olive, and Shandaken already offer municipal alert systems. The Village of Hunter also directs residents to a Swift911 notification system serving the town of Hunter. The Overlook could not find comparable registration pages on the municipal websites for Saugerties or Windham.
Residents can also find information about county-level emergency alerts through Ulster County and Greene County. Woodstock provides additional information about state alerts and disaster preparedness on its website.
Isabella Schoonover is a staff reporter for The Overlook covering Woodstock, Saugerties, Hurley, and surrounding Ulster County communities. Send correspondence to isabella@theoverlooknews.com.
