The Town Council has approved a service agreement with Emergency Communications Network LLC for a community emergency notification system.

The company operates its system nationwide under the name CodeRed. The contract is a five-year renewable agreement with a $12,757 annual cost.

Town Manager Grady Miller told the council that following an active shooter incident along the Beeline Highway last May and extreme summer heat he asked technology staff to investigate a community emergency notification system.

“CodeRed was selected because of the ability of the system to send targeted emergency alerts to specific areas as well as community-wide alerts and notifications within minutes,” Miller said.

They have a high speed, high capacity network that allows messages to be sent via voice, email, text or social media platforms.

“This is one part of an overall strategy we have with regard to our emergency operations plan,” Miller said.

Staff will also be reviewing designated emergency shelters to assure sites such as School District facilities and the Community Center have emergency generators to accommodate the needs of a shelter.

Councilman Art Tolis said he understands the need and likes how the system operates, but raised questions about the expense.

“I feel there are other tools available such as social medial we can use to accomplish this and maintain fiscal responsibility,” Tolis said.

Miller said he appreciated Tolis’ point but said he would have concerns about control over the message.

“This is truly just for emergencies,” Miller said.

Mayor Linda Kavanagh said that Facebook, for instance, depends on people checking back, and she said many older people do not use such social media.

“We will be using this for very serious messages,” Councilman Henry Leger said. “We want to be sure the source has integrity.”

Leger also asked if town staff had communicated with the School District regarding the plan. The district already uses a notification system and a joint program could benefit both.

Miller said district officials had not been contacted and he would follow up, but he added that the district system is targeted very specifically to its student population and parents.

Miller said as the system is implemented there would be limited testing. He added the system could be implemented by the end of March.