Brookhaven officials announced some good news at a Board of Aldermen meeting this week. A city-wide emergency alert system will soon be up and running.

Currently, the city doesn’t have an easy and efficient way to notify residents of things like boil-water notices, weather alerts or other important matters.

The alert system would have been useful during the multi-day, boil-water notice that impacted city residents months ago. During that situation, there was much confusion on which residents were impacted and for how long.

An emergency alert system will prevent that in the future. It can also notify residents if there is a dangerous crime or weather situation in their area.

The technology is surprisingly cheap. The city will pay about $6,500 for the system which will allow residents, merchants and those who work in Brookhaven to receive alerts by phone, text and email.

We appreciate the city pursuing this technology. It will help keep Brookhaven’s residents safer and more informed.

The city had more good news at this week’s meeting. Several dilapidated structures will soon be torn down. The board approved for 27 of them to come down. These are dangerous properties that are often beyond repair.

Tearing them down and hauling the debris away will make a positive impact on nearby property values and the city’s overall appearance.