Consider and take appropriate action regarding the Memorandum of Agreement between County of Travis, Texas and the Federal Emergency Management Agency Integrated Public Alert and Warning System (IPAWS) Program Management Office regarding the use of County of Travis, Texas  Interoperable System and IPAWS OPEN Platform for Emergency Networks (IPAWS-OPEN). (Judge Brown & Commissioner Shea)

Staff Report & Agenda Item Details

This Memorandum of Agreement (MOA) allows Travis County to utilize the Integrated Public Alert and Warning System (IPAWS) to provide timely emergency alerts throughout Travis County. Travis County first entered into this agreement in 2014. This renewed agreement updates our Regional Notification System provider information, and our local point of contact information. <br id="isPasted"> <br>The IPAWS platform enhances our local warning capability by providing a process to transmit our warning messages across other interoperable warning systems; namely, Emergency Alert System, Commercial Mobile Alert System/Wireless Emergency Alerts, and National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA) HazCollect. IPAWS enables timely messaging to mobile devices (regardless of self - registration in the Regional Notification System database), area broadcasters and NOAA All-Hazards radio. <br> <br><b style="caret-color: rgb(33, 33, 33); color: rgb(33, 33, 33); font-family: Aptos, sans-serif; font-size: 16px; font-style: normal; font-variant-caps: normal; letter-spacing: normal; orphans: 2; text-align: start; text-indent: 0px; text-transform: none; white-space: normal; widows: 2; word-spacing: 0px; -webkit-text-stroke-width: 0px; text-decoration-line: none; text-decoration-thickness: auto; text-decoration-style: solid;" id="isPasted"><span style="font-size: 11pt;">Travis County Sheriff’s Office Dispatch, along with Office of Emergency Management, serve as the local warning points for the county. Both offices will maintain secure access to the IPAWS platform for sending emergency alerts.</span></b>