Councilman James Wallace, left to right, Mayor Thomas Vahalla, Police Chief Rob Rentenberg and Police Sgt. David Liantonio flank the new solar message board. METUCHEN — The Police Department now has a way to better communicate with the public in case of disasters or other important community alerts.
With the help of a grant from the New Jersey Department of Law and Public Safety, the borough has a new solar mobile message board, which will be shared between the borough’s Office of Emergency Management and the Police Department.
“If there is a road closure or an event, we can put it on the board,” police Sgt. David Liantonio said, adding that the sign can be placed anywhere in the borough and has a lift that can rise to 8 feet.
The grant total was $16,900. The borough received $9,520 from the state, and the borough matched the funds.
Liantonio said they were able to offset some of the funds with training hours and put forward $7,380.
Police saw the need for the device in the wake of superstorm Sandy, which wreaked havoc across the state last October. The storm knocked out power throughout the whole borough, including the Police Department. Backup generators were used for days.
Liantonio said included in the board is a radar function, which came as a bonus for the borough.
The mobile message board is an addition to initiatives to improve emergency communication, which also includes Facebook and Nixle.