By Joan Goodchild, Community Reporter
Shrewsbury – The Shrewsbury Board of Selectmen discussed the town's trial run with CodeRED at its April 3 meeting. CodeRED, an emergency notification system, alerts residents en masse by phone about potentially dangerous storms and other events. The town is putting the system to a test to see if it is worth funding in fiscal year (FY) 2013.
As part of the trial run, calls utilizing the CodeRED system were to be made to the entire community on Wednesday, April 4. The recorded message on the call asked residents to visit the Shrewsbury Electric & Cable Operations (SELCO) website where they can update and validate contact information in the database maintained by the town.
While Shrewsbury does not currently have an early warning system in place for storms, Town Manager Daniel Morgado pointed out the school system does utilize a mass-notification system for school delays and closures. He noted he is not “entirely sold” on the CodeRED system yet because he wants to further explore the possibility of utilizing systems already being used for early warnings.
“My concern is spending money on something that duplicates what is already being done,” said Morgado.
The CodeRED registration page is at http://www.shrewsbury-ma.gov/codered.
The board also discussed a report from Shrewsbury Animal Control Officer Leona Pease regarding a dog that has been running free on Memorial Drive and in the Adams Farm development.
Pease said she has found the dog, owned by Kimberly Collins of 47 Memorial Drive, to be a nuisance to area residents and requested the board to hold a hearing on the issue.
The board agreed and set the hearing for its April 17 meeting.