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Public works proposes $30,000/year Doppler system for incident mass notification and dispatch features
Summary
Public works pitched a vendor (Doppler) offering geofenced text/email/phone alerts, image uploads, and an integrated dispatch/clock‑in feature; staff said the county currently lacks in‑house mass notification outside DEM/Flash Alert and recommended returning with a contract recommendation on a future Monday meeting.
Public services staff told the board it is pursuing a mass‑notification and incident‑response system for public works and prefers a vendor called Doppler after reviewing three bids.
"Their bid came in in about $30,000 per year," Public Services Director Mike Moss said, describing Doppler's core features: opt‑in text, email and phone alerts; geolocation/geofencing so the county can notify people on a specific road who have opted in; the ability for residents to send images during events; and an integrated dispatch feature with clock‑in/out and records that would help track overtime and callouts.
Moss contrasted the proposed system with the county's current emergency notification pathway through the Department of Emergency Management (DEM), which uses Flash Alert and FEMA's IPAWS for reverse 911 messages. He said DEM does those high‑magnitude alerts and uses reverse 911 only when federal criteria are met, but DEM charges per text/call when the county uses Flash Alert. Doppler, by contrast, would be an in‑house opt‑in solution for water/sewer maintenance, road closures and weather events and is not billed in per‑text blocks.
Moss noted tradeoffs: Doppler is volunteer opt‑in, so an un‑opted resident would not receive routine Doppler messages unless the incident met IPAWS criteria; and Doppler's call center agents are based in the U.S. (Moss said they are in Georgia), which some residents may see as a concern. He also emphasized Doppler's dispatch and overtime‑tracking functions, saying the service could remove manual supervisor tracking for callouts and overtime allocations.
Moss said staff will bring a formal proposal to the board on a future Monday meeting and asked the board to review the materials provided. No contract or spending decision was made at the workshop.
Direct references at the meeting: Doppler bid ~$30,000/year; vendor offers geofencing, image upload, text/email/phone alerts, integrated dispatch/clock features; current DEM/Flash Alert usage subject to per‑text costs and IPAWS criteria.
