Cowlitz County public works reviews snow event, eyes geofenced alerts and mass-notification tools

Savannah Clement, public works director for Cowlitz County, told the county commissioners the department is reviewing last week’s weather event and exploring a mass-notification product that could geofence messages to residents and create work orders from public reports.

Clement opened the discussion by saying, “We have a pretty light agenda today, but I first thing I wanted to start with was our weather event that we ended the week with last week.” She said the department tracked and updated the public on Facebook and is conducting an after-action review to identify “the good, the bad, the ugly” of communications during the event.

Clement said one recurring problem during the event and during this summer’s I‑5 construction was that GPS navigation apps routed unfamiliar drivers — including semi trucks — onto small local roads. That drove traffic into neighborhoods and caused the “most problems” the department faced, she said. Clement said Public Works is examining options to pass closure information to mapping platforms such as Google Maps and Waze so those services stop directing through traffic onto local roads during closures.

Beyond rerouting data, Clement described features the county is evaluating for a mass-notification platform: geofenced alerts that do not require opt-in for FEMA-defined emergencies, an opt-in capability for localized events (for example, water‑service outages), and multi-channel delivery (text, phone calls and in some cases landline calls). “Being able to notify our residents if we have a water main break, notifying those rate payers right away,” she said, noting that the county at times has had to deliver door hangers because people could not be reached electronically.

Clement also said the county is assessing whether to piggyback on the county emergency-management notification system. Emergency Management staff already operate a system that can send a limited number of messages under their contract; Public Works will also demonstrate commercial products that add functionality such as photo submission and automated work‑order creation so citizens can report hazards with a photo and the system generates a task for crews.

Commissioners and staff discussed trade-offs. Emergency-management geo-alerts can reach many people via a broader alert mechanism; some geofence functions can reach everyone within a defined area but different rules may apply when the alert is for a localized utility outage and not a broader life-safety event. Counted advantages included reaching people who might not follow the county Facebook page; commissioners praised crews’ communications during the recent event and encouraged moving quickly on demonstration options.

Clement said she will circulate vendor quotes and schedule demonstrations with other departments, and expects the item to return for discussion in the coming weeks before the next heavy-weather season.

Ending

Public Works plans to present demo options and pricing to the commissioners before making a procurement recommendation. The department also will continue coordinating with Emergency Management and other county departments to determine whether to piggyback on the existing emergency system or adopt a separate product that adds work‑order and photo-reporting features.