The City of New York Mills has announced the launch of a new text alert service, TextMyGov as a way for residents, employees and visitors to receive up-to-date information. This new service will enable the city to notify residents about upcoming events, office closures, hydrant flushing, snow plowing, weather-related announcements and emergencies in a timely manner.

The NY Mills City Council has made an ongoing effort to provide an efficient communication process to keep citizens informed of city events. In the past, the city has use physical postings, letters, radio announcements and notifications through Facebook and the city’s official website to get messages out. 

This new SMS smart texting service is a free and convenient way to receive information without having to download an app. Subscribers can enjoy around-the-clock notifications and easy accessibility. The service also enables the city to narrow messages down to a specific area of town for instances such as water main breaks or street repairs. This helps to prevent unnecessary messages being sent to those who are not affected.

The city will officially launch the new text messaging system to the public on Wednesday, Aug. 21. Residents may receive a text message from 91896 from the City of New York Mills, initiating the service. Residents may receive multiple messages per month.

Those who don’t receive the initial message, you can choose to opt-in by texting the keyword “NYM ALERTS” to the number 91896. After sending the initial keyword, you will be asked to reply “YES” to confirm opt-in. Residents may receive notifications for events, hydrant flushing, snow plowing, weather-related announcement, etc. For specific text alerts, text one of the following keywords to the number 91896

• City-wide General notifications: text NYM ALERTS to 91896

• Emergency notifications: text NYM EMERGENCY to 91896

• Library notifications: text NYM LIBRARY to 91896

• Pool notifications: text NYM POOL to 91896

Signing up is also easily accomplished by visiting the city’s website at (www.newyorkmills.govoffice2.com) and choosing “opt-in” on the TextMyGov widget located at the bottom right of the homepage. Here you may sign up for the General Notifications category, or the Emergency Notifications category upon choosing the right arrow button. Library and Pool categories may be signed up for by simply texting as instructed above.

“The city is excited to utilize a new method of communication with our residents,” said Mayor Marsha Maki. “This service has been helpful to other cities and we hope it will be a good communication tool for us in New York Mills also. Please sign up, and in the future please share any feedback you have on the system.”