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Commission discusses storm-safety day, programming weather radios and city text alerts with Hamilton County emergency management
Summary
Commissioners discussed organizing a storm-safety day with Hamilton County emergency management to program weather radios and to register residents for a Collegedale-specific text-alert system.
Commissioners discussed a proposed storm-safety day, collaboration with Hamilton County emergency management, and establishing city-specific text alerts for Collegedale residents.
Why it matters: Commissioners said hands-on programming of personal weather radios and a local sign-up for city text alerts could improve public safety and resident preparedness for severe-weather events.
Commissioner House described a recent visit to the Hamilton County Office of Emergency Management and listed staff she met there: “We met, the director Chris Adams, the deputy director Winston Shields, public relations manager Amy Maxwell, and captain Patrick Kellum, who is a Collegedale resident…” She said the county offered to share resources for large gatherings, including cell-phone-tower assistance, ATVs/UTVs and drones.
Commissioner House proposed a storm-safety day where residents could bring weather radios for programming. David Barto and others discussed local retail participation; David Barto said an Ace Hardware contact offered to bring and sell about 100 weather radios at prior events. Commissioners discussed whether FEMA grants could buy radios; staff warned that local experience shows long reimbursement timelines and a recently introduced state bill could require state-legislative approval to access federal reimbursements.
City staff member Andrew (title not specified in transcript) said the city is working with Verizon on a no-cost setup for a city text-notification system (setup provided at no cost to local government), though individual residents could incur charges from their wireless carriers for receiving texts. “...Verizon… they're taking care of that at no cost to us,” Andrew said. Staff said a city-specific sign-up could be offered at the storm-safety event.
Commissioners asked staff to continue planning the storm-safety day and to coordinate participants (Hamilton County, Tricom, local retailers, Red Cross or Samaritan Center). No formal action or funding was committed at the meeting; staff said they would follow up and that securing donations or partner support is an option for radio distribution.
