BY JOSH DAVISNorth Country This Week

CANTON – The village has put aside an idea to introduce a mobile push notification system for local alerts and news, reporting high costs when compared with the village’s small population.

In October, the village discussed the possibility of introducing a mobile alert system, citing the need for immediate, widespread communication during emergencies or events such as water main breaks or road closures. 

“These are expensive systems, all of them,” Canton Deputy Mayor Anna Sorensen said. 

“We would be paying a lot of money for more capability than we would use. So it just doesn’t seem like it makes sense at this point.”

“They’re incredible, they can do a lot of great stuff. But we’re a small community and most of them are not made for or priced for small communities,” Sorensen said.

Sorensen noted that the joint town and village Communications and Technology Committee will instead look into developing standard operating procedures around how information is provided to community members.

Canton’s municipal website currently features the capability to prominently display an alert message on the home page, though officials report that communication method does not seem to be doing an effective enough job at reaching the public.  

In March 2025, the Potsdam town board considered setting up text notifications to alert local residents of town business using the TextMyGov platform. That system carried first-year fees between $7,500 and $9,700 combined with recurring annual fees between $5,000 and $7,500.  

In Jan. 2024, St. Lawrence County approved a contract with Rave Mobile Safety to provide safety alerts during the total solar eclipse. 

That program carried a cost of $23,941 for the county and is the same system used by some SUNY schools to message students. 

Ogdensburg residents can also sign up for various alerts for information such as public works notifications, bid postings, and community events at ogdensburgny.gov .