The city of Benton Harbor will soon have a new way to reach residents.

At a meeting this week, city commissioners approved contracting with MunicipalOne for a mass text messaging service. Similar to what’s in place in many communities, Benton Harbor City Clerk Tiffany Moore said this will enable residents to stay in the loop regarding city operations that affect them.

“It is a way for citizens to sign up to receive text messages and or emails based off of their interests,” Moore said. “It is through our website company, and it will be all handled through the back end of our website through staff.”

Moore said there will be several categories of alerts, so if a resident is interested in, say, commission meetings, they can get notifications about any coming up.

The city will pay MunicipalOne $3,900 for the service for one year.

Moore said residents will be able to sign up on the city’s website, via a QR code, or through text message once the service goes live.