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unofficial consolidation, the official version is held by the municipal clerk.
Mass Notification System Policy
1.0
Purpose
To establish a standard practice for the use of the Town of Mahone Bay Mass Notification
System (MNS). The Town of Mahone Bay Mass Notification System will be utilized by the
Town to provide emergency and non-emergency communications to residents,
businesses, and community partners.
2.0
Scope
The policy applies to all web-based mass notifications, including those related to public
safety information, emergency announcements, service interruptions and non-
emergency informational announcements.
3.0
Objectives
The objectives of the Mass Notification Policy will be to:
i.
Provide clear guidelines for the manner in which the mass notification system will
be used
ii.
Provide clear guidelines for when the mass notification system will be used to
communicate with the public
iii. Provide clear guidelines for who will be authorized to issue announcements via the
mass notification system
4.0
Roles and Responsibilities
4.1
System Administrator - The Administrator of the Mass Notification System shall be
designated by the CAO. Th System Administrator has overall responsibility for the system,
its policies, user procedures, system access and credentialing for authorized users. They
will be the main point of contact with the software support network. All system issues are
to be reported to the System Administrator.
4.2
Dispatch Team - A staff Dispatch Team will be designated by the CAO as those
authorized to launch messages on the MNS. The Dispatch Team will be comprised of
representation from the Town departments authorized to launch notifications using the
Mass Notification System.
The Dispatch Team will assist with development of the system and will meet periodically
to review system usage, discuss best practices, and develop plans for optimal use of the
MNS software.
2
4.3
Policy Development - The System Administrator will be responsible for developing
the MNS Policy and Procedure document. The Dispatch Team will assist with the
development and implementation of MNS Policy and Procedure.
5.0
Messages on the MNS System
5.1 Normal Operations - The Dispatch Team are the designated single point of contact
authorized to launch MNS mass notifications for non-emergency notifications.
5.2 Emergency Notifications - Emergency notifications are those that pertain to
threat to life and/or property and unplanned service interruptions which may require
the public to take immediate action. Emergency notifications will be sent to all those
potentially affected by the situation, as well as the Dispatch Team, Town Management
Team and Elected Officials. Anyone other than an authorized system user, Emergency
Messages requiring immediate release should be sent directly to the System
Administrator.
5.3 Examples of EMERGENCY MESSAGES:
Boil water
Unplanned Electrical Outage
Evacuation Orders
Water Main Breaks
Shelter-in-Place Orders
Emergency Shelter Opening
Law Enforcement Emergency
Hazardous Materials Spills
Fire threatening life and/or property in Mahone Bay
5.4 Non-Emergency Messages - Non-emergency notifications will only be deployed
using the general notification database; they will only be sent via text, email, and
phone. All non-emergency notifications must be pre-approved by the most senior
management available from the following list:
Chief Administrative Officer
System Administrator
5.5 Community Notification Messages - The System Administrator and the Dispatch
Team shall make recommendation to Council regarding the use of non-emergency
categories of messages to be shared via the MNS Only those who have subscribed to
the community notification message categories will receive messages other than
emergency messages.
5.6 Do Not Call List - Those residents and businesses in the Town of Mahone Bay who
do not wish to be contacted by the MNS have the option to be added to the Do Not
Call List, either through the online registration system or by contacting Town staff.
6.0
External Agencies
Agencies external to the Town may request mass notifications from the Town of Mahone
Bay System Administrator in the event of threat to life and property. The System
Administrator is the designated SINGLE POINT OF CONTACT authorized to launch mass
notifications for non-access agencies. The requesting agency must provide authorizing
signature from the agency executive officer. The Town of Mahone Bay reserves the right
to deny any request to share information from a non-access agency. The System
Administrator may confer with the CAO or delegate to reach a decision to approve or
deny a request prior to launching a mass notification. Only third-party information that is
relevant and local will be considered for sharing through the Town's mass notification
system.
7.0
Approval Goal
The goal of the Message Approval Process is to prevent unauthorized or duplicate
messages from being sent to the public. Once authorized approval has been given to
send a Mass Notification message, the sender is required to notify all others who have the
authority to approve messages that an approved message was sent (including the
message content).
8.0
Confirmation Procedure
After launching a message, the sender shall view the Mass Notification Session Statistics
to ensure that the message was properly delivered. Notify the System Administrator the
MNS software support if there are any concerns with deliverability.
9.0
Creating Contact Groups
The System Administrator is responsible for establishing and maintaining internal contact
groups within the MNS Dispatchers can request any collection of users for a Group they
choose to designate.
11.0
Training and Exercise
The System Administrator is responsible for ensuring that the Dispatch Team is fully
trained to use the MNS at all times. Webinar-based training and refresher training can be
taken at any time online. Each system user should, at a minimum, conduct a test call
monthly consisting of a text message or a recorded phone call to their own phone and
that of the System Administrator to exercise their skill and validate familiarity.
12. Repeal
On the effective date of this policy, the Town of Mahone Bay Mass Notification Policy,
dated September 2019 is hereby repealed.
Clerk's Annotation for Official Policy Book
Date of Notice to Council Members of Intent
to Consider {7 days minimum notice}: N/A
Date of Passage of Policy:
May 28, 2026
I certify that this Policy was adopted by Council as
indicated above.
_______________
_________________
Clerk
Date