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Frostburg announces hires, retirements and launches citizen alert subscriptions; staff to pilot SMS options
Summary
City reported several hires — John Miller as director for community development, Erica Beeman as housing coordinator and a custodial hire — and upcoming retirements. Staff launched a website-based subscription alert system with three categories and will continue evaluating location-based text/phone alert vendors (annual vendor costs discussed).
Frostburg staff told the council the city will soon be fully staffed in most departments with several recent hires: John Miller will join as director for community development, Erica Beeman as housing coordinator, and Mr. Lewis in a custodial role with Parks & Rec. Staff also noted three expected retirements in January in police, water and streets that will require succession planning.
In response to recent communication gaps during a water outage, staff launched a website-based subscription alert system that supports three categories — city alerts for emergencies, city activities/events, and city updates — allowing residents to opt in by email. Staff reported roughly 120 sign-ups in the first few days. Council discussed longer-term options including location-based SMS/voice vendors; staff cited sample vendor costs (roughly $5,000–$11,000 per year depending on features) and said they would pilot the website/email option and continue vetting SMS vendors.
Staff said they will produce a usage policy to manage frequency of messages and train additional staff to send alerts so communications are timely and not reliant on a single person.
