A text notification app of Upper Burrell happenings and events will launch in the township sometime next year.
Supervisors Chairman Ross G. Walker III said Upper Burrell plans to use the Savvy Citizen program, a mobile app designed to allow governments to communicate with residents.
The app can be downloaded for free.
Walker anticipates the program to start in January.
“It’s a program we’re very interested in,” Walker said. “It notifies citizens about anything that might be going on in the township, like a lost person, police updates or emergency situations, traffic or weather alerts.”
Although a small, rural township, Upper Burrell has seen its share of large incidents. In June, a search was launched for a missing man with dementia in the township, who was eventually found safe.
In addition, it’s home to the Penn State New Kensington campus; and the TECfusions data center which, at its capacity, could hold 3 gigawatts of power in the upcoming decades. That is roughly three times as much power as the Three Mile Island nuclear power plant near Harrisburg.
Information on how to sign up for Savvy Citizen will soon be posted to the township website, upperburrelltwp.com, Walker said.
The township will pay about $1,400 annually for the program, that Walker said is an effort for the township to better communicate with its residents.
“I think it’s getting citizens to engage, and have more interest, in the community,” he said. “Several neighboring townships use it.”
