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Stillwater approves FEMA agreement to activate IPAWS emergency alerts
Summary
The city approved a memorandum with FEMA to enable IPAWS (Integrated Public Alert and Warning System) in its mass-notification platform, permitting geofenced emergency alerts; council voted 5-0 after an emergency-management briefing that cited a $1,200 setup fee and training completed by staff.
Stillwater officials voted unanimously on Feb. 23 to approve an agreement with the Federal Emergency Management Agency that will enable the city to activate IPAWS (Integrated Public Alert and Warning System) in its mass-notification platform.
Rob Hill, the city’s emergency management director, told the council the city completed required training and certifications and will submit the signed agreement to FEMA so the IPAWS feature can be activated in the city’s existing Rave mass-notification system. Hill said the one-time setup fee to enable the feature is $1,200.
“With IPAWS, we can go in, we can set up geofences, we can alert to community,” Hill said, describing the system’s ability to target residents in a defined area with information about immediate threats, evacuations, shelter locations and updates through the duration of an event.
Hill emphasized the system is intended for emergencies and not routine community announcements, and he noted recipients who have device-level alerts disabled (for Amber or Silver Alerts, for example) may not receive some messages. The council had previously pulled the FEMA item from the consent docket to allow Hill to explain the scope and public benefit of the agreement.
Mayor William Joyce thanked staff for completing training and preparing the system for use, saying the capability addresses gaps the community noticed after last year’s incidents. After the presentation, the council voted 5-0 to approve the agreement.
The action authorizes the city to request that FEMA enable the IPAWS functionality in the city’s mass-notification vendor portal; the agreement itself was identified in the meeting packet as largely exempt from public disclosure under state FOIA provisions, a point Councilor Clark raised in requesting the item be pulled for discussion.
