Newcomerstown, Ohio - Village officials have a new way to share information with Newcomerstown residents.

Mayor Pat Cadle says they’re in the process of launching a new community announcement system to keep people informed about what’s going on in the village through telephone, email and text notifications. He says the idea was inspired by the notification system used by the Newcomerstown Local School District.

“The school system has had an all-call system for at least the last 10 to 15 years I think, and it just goes on to if they’re doing it why can’t we do it to try to cover all of our residents or as many as we can get,” he explains.

Cadle says they plan to use the system to notify residents about things like water main breaks, leaf pickups, cleanup dates and snow emergencies.

“It’s nice because if you use it the right way, residents are gonna look at it as an important thing and an easier way to find out what’s going on,” he says.

Cadle says they will also be able to use the system to send notifications to specific groups or by neighborhood. 

“If we only want to contact people in Section 1 of the town, we can do that, and we can just deliver a message to those people saying, ‘Hey, tomorrow’s your day for leaf pickup’ or ‘next Tuesday is your day,’ and we can do that for each section of town. We can contact our employees if we have a problem or if we need something done a little bit sooner. You can put any kind of group no matter how big or small into it and how you want to contact them.”

Cadle says the notification system is costing the village less than a dollar per resident per year. 

“It’s a great use of your tax money because it’s costing you less than a dollar to have that kind of service for announcements and information,” he says.

Cadle says people can register for notifications by calling 740-498-6313 or emailing Administrative Assistant Erica Gress at egress@newcomerstownoh.com. 

“It’s a simple thing. You have a choice of email, text or phone or you can have all three done if you wanted to, and it’s just an easier way,” he says.

Each address can register up to two cell phones, two landlines and one email address.

STACEY CARMANY, TUSCO TV