The City of Seminole is considering making changes in how citizens are notified of both emergency and non-emergency situations.

One of the items on the March 11 Seminole City Council meeting agenda was “consideration and possible action regarding continued use of the city’s current mass notification system.”

Currently, residents who have signed up receive phone calls, text messages and/or emails when severe weather is threatening the area. Residents also receive notifications of water line breaks, even if their immediate area is not affected. The system also sends out a message each Saturday at 11 a.m., stating that the city’s storm warning sirens will be tested at noon, weather permitting.

Sean Carlise, the city’s information and technology officer, told the council that the current system has been in place for about five years at a cost of $4,400 annually. He said the city recently conducted a survey asking for input on the current system, and only 11 people responded.

City Manager Steve Saxon directed council members to get with their constituents for feedback.

“What we’re after is, we don’t want to spend $4,400 if only 11 people are paying attention to our mass notifications. That’s probably not a good investment. We need to do something different. I need you guys to help us. We need feedback. Let us know what we’re doing right and what we’re doing wrong. I’ve talked with several people who just deleted [the service] because they were tired of getting the message every Saturday that the sirens were going to go off at noon,” Saxon said.

Saxon added that some services give the option of “geo-fencing,” meaning that only those in a selected geographical area would be notified of things such as water main breaks, rather than the entire database being notified.

No action was taken on the matter at Tuesday’s meeting, but it will likely appear on a future agenda.

The survey Carlisle mentioned is still live on the city’s website, seminole- oklahoma.net.