Next time American Canyon is facing a major road closure or other non-emergency that might effect their lives, residents are going to get a jingle from City Hall.

The American Canyon City Council this month approved a policy to allow the Community Advisory Network — or CAN — to notify residents and businesses of road closures, water main breaks, drinking water problems and more. Back in March, the City Council unanimously approved the purchase of the citywide non-emergency system for $32,500 from 3N Global Inc. of Glendale, now known as Everbridge Inc. According to the three-year contract, the city will pay $10,000 a year to maintain the system in addition to an initial set-up fee of $2,500.

It is still unclear when the city will first use CAN.

“My guess would be by the end of the year,” said Deanna Parness, the city’s management analyst. “We think it’s going to be great.”

Residents and businesses will be able to opt out of the system or choose to receive messages via e-mail or on their cell phones.

The vote on Sept. 1 approving the policies for the system was 4-1, with City Councilwoman Cindy Coffey going against the majority. In an e-mail this week, Coffey questioned the system’s benefits and how easy it will be for people to opt out of the system, and said the city plans to use it for more purposes than she expected when she voted to approve the contract in March.

“I supported the system earlier this year, but we were asked to ‘approve’ something based on assumptions,” Coffey wrote.

City staff recommended the purchase of the system, calling it a “practical” and a “cost-efficient way” to notify residents of problems that could affect their commutes or the delivery of city services.

“The goal of the system is not to alarm people but to advise them of situations or information deemed important to the city,” Parness wrote in her staff report to the City Council.

“Public Works staff spend hours driving throughout the city to place door hanger notices at each customer’s residence advising of impending water turn off for non-payment,” Parness and Barry Whitley, the city’s finance director, wrote in a March staff report.

Longtime resident Al Donaldson is no fan of the system. He wonders what the city will do during power outages and how it will manage its phone number database.

Parness said the phone database, which has been prepared already, will be updated every quarter. The system will be rolled out slowly to make sure it is done right, she said.

American Canyon has an emergency notification phone system in place through Napa County. The City Council agreed in May to participate in that $115,000 system — known as WARN.