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Emergency‑notification options reviewed; staff seeks higher sign‑up rates and county coordination
Summary
Emergency management staff reviewed Greeley’s current alerting tools (county CodeRED, IPAWS/WEA/EAS, social media and the city website), explained constraints tied to IPAWS access and opt‑in systems, and urged public sign‑ups and multilingual outreach. Councilors asked for faster coordination with Weld County dispatch and clarified how alerts are
The Greeley City Council received an overview of the city’s emergency notification systems, how alerts are sent, and steps staff plan to take to increase public participation and accessibility.
Peter Perez, Director of Emergency Management, and Deputy Director Don Taddy described the mix of systems local jurisdictions commonly use for public emergency notification: county mass‑notification platforms (Weld County’s CodeRED), the federal Integrated Public Alert and Warning System (IPAWS) that supports Wireless Emergency Alerts (WEA) and the Emergency Alert System (EAS), outdoor warning sirens, weather radios, social media and the city website.
Perez explained how IPAWS and WEA operate through cell‑tower‑based broadcasts and noted that in Colorado IPAWS access is generally administered by counties. He said Weld County uses CodeRED to deliver mass notifications and can, at the county’s discretion, push a message through IPAWS (for example, a WEA cell‑broadcast or EAS). Perez stressed that CodeRED and similar systems are opt‑in: residents and businesses must register addresses or contact details to receive targeted CodeRED messages based on a drawn map area.
Emergency management staff recommended a number of best practices for senders and residents: keep messages concise with clear action steps, provide multiple delivery methods, plan for accessibility (multiple languages, sign language or video), and coordinate messaging across agencies to avoid confusing or duplicated alerts. Staff cited examples of emerging tools—such as integrating smart‑home devices or providing sign‑language video links—in other jurisdictions, but cautioned about privacy and implementation tradeoffs.
Councilors asked questions about operational coordination, speed of county response and the practicality of additional systems. Councilor Butler pressed on how Greeley and Weld County coordinate on incidents that require fast local alerts (for example, localized flooding). Perez acknowledged the process currently requires 911 dispatch to field requests and said a countywide work group of emergency managers and dispatch is pursuing vendor and process changes to give local jurisdictions better control for local alerts while preserving safeguards for IPAWS. He said Weld County is pursuing a new vendor procurement and that the city has urged limited local access to county systems for the municipality’s own areas.
On sirens, Perez explained that outdoor warning sirens are costly to maintain and are best used to alert people outdoors to seek shelter; they are not a substitute for indoor alerts and require population education. Council members asked for clearer public outreach on existing tools; staff said the city will increase public messaging and that the communications team will help rebrand and promote sign‑up links for CodeRED on the city website.
Ending: Staff recommended a program of increased public outreach to boost CodeRED registrations, improved multilingual and accessible messaging, and continued coordination with Weld County on vendor selection and operational procedures. No policy change was voted during the session.
