Want To Be In The Loop? Join Town's Email, Phone Services

One important lesson from the recent Kent County Water Authority E. coli water scare was the need to be able to reach people fast with the information. The Town of East Greenwich realized it needs to encourage more residents to sign up for notification services it already offers.

Right now, the town sends out "e-newsletters" to about 870 email subscribers, a fraction of the total number of residents in East Greenwich. In addition, it has a "reverse-911" phone system to be able to alert residents in emergencies. But the town's original phone list was land-line numbers only, obtained through a third party. Some people just use their cell phone, and that means the town doesn't have that number unless the resident submitted it.

Town officials are hoping to increase but the number of email subscribers and the number of accurate phone numbers in those two services.

Signing up to receive the town's e-newsletter is pretty straightforward. On the town's home page (here), look on the left side of the page about halfway down, where you'll find a place to enter your email address. The town is not planning to flood your inbox. Rather, typically they will send one email a week, usually on Friday, outlining events for the coming week. 

To sign up for the reverse 911 phone service, you will need to make an account, clicking on the link just below the email box (see the photo here). The account allows you to add several phone numbers – home, work, cell – so that in case of an emergency, you will be notified no matter where you are.

If you're not sure your phone number is already on EG's list, technology specialist Wendy Schmidle encourages to you create an account. If there is a duplicate, the system will root it out.

If you have questions, you can contact Wendy at wschmidle@eastgreenwichri.com.