Millville to roll out CivicPlus mass‑notification system; coordinator to present signup options Tuesday

Commissioner Taylor told the council on June 12 that Millville is ready to begin rolling out a mass‑notification system provided by CivicPlus, aimed at faster, department‑specific alerts for emergencies, road closures and utility service notices.

Taylor said a press release is in council packets and that Bill Stadnik, the city’s OEM coordinator and a police sergeant, will present a brief demonstration at Tuesday’s meeting explaining how residents can sign up via QR code, the app stores or text messaging. Taylor said each department (water, sewer, police, fire, EMS, streets and parks) will be able to manage its own notification streams and that the system allows preloaded messages that can be sent in about 45 seconds to a minute.

Council members asked whether each department will manage its own content; staff said departments will be trained and will be able to send targeted notifications, with certain high‑priority alerts going to all users. Commissioners praised the system as an improvement over relying on Facebook for time‑sensitive city alerts.

Other local updates: Commissioner Renell reported the City Hall elevator board repair is slated to begin within two weeks with an anticipated completion window of about 25 days. The business administrator, Mr. Bitterman, said he will report additional administrative items at upcoming meetings. Commissioner Cosper said she will hold two items for the Tuesday meeting so the public can hear them.

What’s next: Bill Stadnik will present the mass‑notification system at Tuesday’s meeting and staff will begin a soft rollout encouraging public signup. The council did not vote on procurement at the June 12 briefing.

Quote: "This is a kind of like a soft opening for this...once we pre‑load stuff for each department, messages could go out within 45 seconds to a minute," Commissioner Taylor said.

The meeting’s public comment period produced no speakers.