The city of Jefferson will soon provide a new notification system for those individuals who choose to be a part of it.

City Administrator Scott Peterson says the City Council approved a mass texting service, TextMyGov, to have the ability for the city to send texts to cell phones with emergencies, water leaks, road closures, among other things in a quick and efficient manner. He tells Raccoon Valley Radio that this company also allows specifically tailored messages to be sent as he uses the example of if a water leak happened.

“It can be done geographically. Basically, go to a map, draw the rectangle around the area that’s affected, and it will automatically pop up with all of the cell phone numbers included in that rectangle, and it can quickly notify everybody. So it notifies everybody of the water leak, also would notify everybody of the ‘all clear’ when everything’s back to normal.”  

Peterson is also excited for the two-way communication aspect that residents can text city staff of issues they see such as potholes that they find. He points out that it will be at least a couple of months before the service goes live, but in the meantime anyone who wants to sign up for notifications from the city, can contact City Hall at 515-386-3111 and give their cell phone number and name to be added to the list or by clicking on the QR code below with a smartphone.