Poll: Does Portsmouth Need a Reverse 911 System?
The Portsmouth Town Council once again tabled a discussion about a Reverse 911 system on Monday. What do you think? Does the town need a reverse 911 system?
Despite overwhelming support from both the police and fire chiefs, the Portsmouth Town Council once again postponed voting Monday on a CodeRED or reverse 911 system.
A CodeRED or reverse 911 system has been proposed several times, with more emphasis since Hurricane Irene, when many residents criticized how the town handled communications during the storm.
"The major complaint we had (during Irene) was the notification process," said Portsmouth Police Chief Lance Hebert at Monday's council meeting. "Some people believe it should be more of the town's responsibility to notify them of evacuations for low-lying areas instead of tuning into one of the three-major channels and radio."
Both Hebert and Portsmouth Fire Chief Jeffrey Lynch spoke in favor of a CodeRED system.
"I believe it will be beneficial for them to have Code Red. We don't have to notify everyone in the town of Portsmouth. We can just notify them in low-lying areas," Hebert said.
Councilors expressed mixed opinions on the system, which would cost $7,500 per year.
"I'm not in favor of it," said council President Joe Robicheau. "We don't need to spend $7,500 per year. I think Mr. Dolce had a good idea with putting signs out like for the taxes. You could put out signs like that for evacuations. An investment of three to four signs could be a better thing to do."
"If there was a thief going out to the Valhalla area, I would want to get that call. I'd be willing to spend my taxpayer money on it. This is a reasonable expenditure," said Councilor James Seveney.
The council voted to have interim Town Administrator David Dolce return with a proposal from CodeRED.
But what do you think about this issue? Does Portsmouth need a CodeRED or reverse 911 system?
Tell us your thoughts in the comment section or poll below!
Robert E
1:34 pm on Friday, November 18, 2011
What do the Councilors care about emergencies like hurricanes they just run and hide until after the storm.
Janice Gump
3:00 pm on Friday, November 18, 2011
Janice G
I believe it would be proactive to have that system. Our concern certainly would be hurricanes however there are other disasters that could occur and it would be prudent to have a measure in place for immediate information.
Bill
3:22 pm on Friday, November 18, 2011
I beleive the Council should go with the recomendation from both the Fire & Police Chief's, they are the first responders, they know best...
Mike Cullen
3:56 pm on Friday, November 18, 2011
For $20 / day Portsmouth's public safety leaders would have a powerful tool to efficiently distribute real time alerts concerning storms, major accidents, missing children, wandering seniors, and solving major crimes. Electronic road signs and ditto machines simply don't handle the job.
Priscilla Smyth Thayer
6:42 pm on Friday, November 18, 2011
I live in Island Park. I heard about the evacuation process from a neighbor on Facebook and a bull horn one hour before the evacuation. A Code Red system would be beneficial. The school department uses an automated system to inform us of closures by email and phone (they were the only town department that we heard from during and after Irene). Why couldn't the town model it after their system or hook up to it?
Doug Smith
7:43 pm on Friday, November 18, 2011
Absolutely! I'm one of the "some people" who thinks that the town should tell its residents what is going in during an emergency and a "code red" telephone system is a focused way to do that. Facebook (free) and/or Twitter (also free) would help but everyone has a telephone. We need to get this in place before the next winter storm.
Anne Devaney
8:23 pm on Friday, November 18, 2011
I relied on the Middletown and Newport Code Red websites despite living in Portsmouth. One storm costs more than the system, so what's the problem for the Council? I work in Newport and, except for going to Clements would never see those 3 or 4 signs. Let's get with the 21st century and go red.
Bill
8:55 am on Saturday, November 19, 2011
Anne, well said, but will they listen ???
Steve
7:44 am on Saturday, November 19, 2011
What happened to people taking responsibility for their own actions when a storm is coming? What if the storm has knocked out phone lines? Or the CodeRed system goes down? Lets sue the town because they didn't tell us to do the obvious
Bob Cosgrove
10:11 am on Saturday, November 19, 2011
Not all evacuations are from storms that can be planned for. What if there was a major gas leak or some kind of man made emergency. Somerset used it this year to people know that the water system was contaminated. It can be used to tell people to stay in their homes when there is a threat outside. It's not the 1800's anymore we need a Town Clowncil that doesn't think that a horse and buggy is state of the art.
Bill
8:53 am on Saturday, November 19, 2011
Why not get a vote from the Towns people ? why let a handful of people make a decision for the whole town. I agree with Anne get with the times...