BARNESVILLE — The village of Barnesville is implementing the CodeRED emergency alert high-speed notification system and wants residents to sign up for alerts.

The CodeRED system, which is already in place at the county level in Belmont County, now gives village officials the ability to quickly deliver pre-recorded notifications and informational messages to certain areas or to the entire village at one time. Village leaders said the system will allow geographically based delivery, so those who register will be required to provide their address to ensure notifications are received by the proper individuals in any given situation.

Barnesville Police Department dispatcher Derek Deal has been involved in the implementation of the Village CodeRED system. He said the village is now able to tap into the county system to send emergency and general notifications out just from village officials to those residing in Barnesville.

“The benefit of being enrolled with CodeRED and in the database of contacts is that it will allow the village, and Belmont County, to send out information during critical situations or general information that needs to be communicated to residents and businesses,” Deal said. “During a notification we can provide actions that need to be taken and provide a notification once the situation has been resolved.

“It is important to sign up to receive these notices, as it will ensure that you are in the database and that you will receive them when one goes out,” he continued.

Notifications from the CodeRED system can be received by phone call, cellphone, text message, email or by the free mobile app. The CodeRED system is being provided to the village through Belmont County 911. Registration for the alert system will be completed using the Belmont County 911 community notification enrollment page.

Notification through this system may include: boil orders, missing persons or children, criminal activity, evacuations, local security or crime alerts. The village can also use CodeRED to send out messages about road closures, the street sweeping schedule and announcements about cemetery cleanup, hydrant flushing, leaf pickup, Christmas tree pickup and other village events.

Residents can also make sure they are weather ready by opting into CodeRED weather warning notifications. This service automatically notifies those in the path of severe weather just moments after the National Weather Service has issued a warning. This is available at no cost, and users choose the alerts they would like to receive, such as tornado, severe thunderstorm, flash flood and winter storm watches and warnings.

“We encourage residents to enroll in emergency and the general notifications when enrolling,” Deal said. “CodeRED is not limited to the village of Barnesville, but is available to all of Belmont County. We encourage those that have businesses or that reside in the county to sign up.”

Deal and other officials urge residents to register their current physical address, primary phone, cellphone and email address. The village also recommends local businesses register and make sure they specify they are a business. Individuals and businesses may add as many phone numbers, email addresses and text message numbers as they like. There is no charge to register for or to use CodeRED. Users’ personal information will be kept secure and confidential.

The CodeRED system has already been helpful throughout Belmont County. In one instance, the CodeRED system allowed for a missing Martins Ferry boy to be located in March. Another instance of a missing child from the Colerain area in May ended quickly, due in part to the CodeRED system. Belmont County 911 Director Bryan Minder said CodeRED has been used in several incidents to find missing children and the elderly since its installation three years ago. It has been used almost weekly, he noted.

To sign up and register for Barnesville’s CodeRED system:

∫ Go to www.alerts.barnesvilleohio.com or access the alerts page by visiting www.barnesvilleohio.com and clicking on the CodeRED Alerts icon;

∫ Click on the enrollment link;

∫ Create a managed account or select no to review and submit information;

∫ Complete the online enrollment form;

∫ Verify information, including correct location on the map; and

∫ Submit enrollment and complete sign up.

Those without internet access can stop at the Barnesville Police Department, 132 N. Arch St., or Barnesville Water Office, 126 E. Church St., to complete a registration form.

If you do not reside in Barnesville but do reside in Belmont County, you can still receive CodeRED Alert notifications from the CodeRED system. To enroll as a Belmont County resident, follow the above steps or visit the Belmont County 911 website at www.belmontcounty911.com.

For details, visit www.barnesvilleohio.com and click the CodeRED icon or call the Barnesville Police Department at 740-425-1976.