Supes approve emergency alert system

The Board of Supervisors on Monday approved implementing the CodeRED system, which will enable Neshoba County residents to receive emergency alert notifications across multiple platforms quickly.

CodeRED will deliver alerts for emergency situations and critical community updates via phone calls (both cell phones and landlines), text messages, emails, or mobile app notifications. These alerts can cover severe weather, natural disasters, evacuation notices, missing persons, and other potentially hazardous situations requiring immediate mass notification.

“It will also provide the means to convey general non-emergency alerts such as trash pickup notices, road closures, and other notices that impact people and property,” said County Administrator Jeff Mayo.

Upon implementation, a custom opt-in page for citizen enrollment will be available on the county website at neshobacounty.net. In addition to weather notifications, residents can select the types of alerts they prefer and their preferred delivery methods, including voice calls, text messages, and emails.

CodeRED also offers an app that allows users to receive notifications from other CodeRED communities while traveling. Likewise, visitors to Neshoba County can receive local CodeRED notifications.

“You can send notifications to a specific audience within a radius, narrowing down to specific geo-locations,” said Emergency Management Director Josh Burt. “We would also be able to notify the public of where disaster recovery centers are located and their operating times. It’s just a better way of communicating with the public all around.”

Officials noted that there is no specific timeline for when this service will be available to the public, as they are still completing the necessary paperwork and undergoing system training.

Burt said that the service is already widely used on the Coast, the Jackson area, and surrounding larger counties.

In other business, supervisors voted to:

• Approve hiring Chris Strickland as a part-time deputy sheriff at $18 an hour, effective Aug. 5;

• Accept the resignations of correctional officers Crysta Ladd, effective July 23, and Zach Nowell, effective July 25;

• Approve hiring Marcus McFarland and Tehya King as correctional officers at $13 an hour, effective July 31;

• Approve a writ of garnishment for James Craig in the amount of $2,655;

• Approve a permit request from MaxxSouth Broadband for fiber placement along the right of way of Road 743;

• Approve an order appointing and setting the salary of Sheila Moddy as AOC Secretary for Youth Court on a part-time basis at $700.27 a month, effective Aug. 1;

• Approve ratifying the termination of services with Catalis Courts & Land Records, effective July 31. This service was used for maintenance and support for court records;

• Accept the termination of deputy clerk Aida Ward, effective July 19, and approve hiring Samantha Apperson as deputy clerk at $15 an hour pending pre-employment drug screen;

• Approve a school bus turnaround at 13432 Highway 488;

• Accept the resignation of telecommunicator Maleah Barrett, effective Aug. 4;

• Approve hiring Tammy Stephens and Tikara Jones as telecommunicators at $14 an hour, effective Aug. 1;

• Approve a travel request for Brittany Talbert and Kaylee Adkins to attend Orientation to E-Telecommunications from Aug. 19-20 in Canton;

• Approve a travel request for Grace Everett to attend the IAED Basic Telecommunicator Certification from Aug. 26-30 in Richland and pay the registration fee of $395;

• Approve paying Equature invoice in the amount of $4,946 for logging recorder yearly maintenance;

• Approve a pay increase of $0.50 an hour to Emergency Management Director Josh Burt for six months of continuous employment;

• Accept a $312,000 grant from the Southeast Crescent Regional Commission for a restroom project at Burnside Park.