Located along the US-23 corridor, between the cities of Ann Arbor and Flint, Michigan, Fenton Township is prime for development for those looking to start businesses, build homes, and raise their family. With agricultural areas and plenty of inland lakes, the township has been growing in population as it has a little of everything, and therefore something for everyone. Having watched the community grow, the board took the initiative to develop a more robust communications plan to reach the generational residents along with new community members and stakeholders.
About the Charter Township of Fenton, Michigan
The Charter Township of Fenton (often referred to as Fenton Township), is in southern Genesee County in Michigan. Fenton Township has a population of roughly 17,000, but in the winter, a decent amount of the residents travel out of state. Known for its lakes, with over 20 named bodies of water within the township, and two State of Michigan Department of Natural Resources (DNR) public boat launches; lake life is a big draw to the area.
What was the challenge that led Fenton Township to GOGov?
In 2021, Fenton Township set out to increase communication from the municipality to the community. To accomplish this goal the township created a social media coordinator role in which the Fenton Township Board approved the hiring of Monica McAlister.
McAlister assisting with the launch of an updated website, started from scratch creating the first municipal social media accounts for Fenton Township, and developed a monthly newsletter. This push towards ensuring that the whole community is being communicated with led to the involvement with GOGov’s citizen notifications application for a township branded citizen notification app.
“Social media platforms are currently in a very fluid state right now. From TikTok bans to changes with platform algorithms. We felt a citizen notification app was the way to go. After research and demos for different products, we felt Citizen Notificationsfrom GOGov fit our needs the best. It is a free download for our residents, and they are not required to create an account, meaning they do not have to put their personal information into the system. This allows us to communicate with our community instantly; be the information being reminders about deadlines coming up, or more serious messages of an urgent nature. All of our residents that download the My Fenton Township app get the push notifications to their device and not hours later when they check social media. Monica McAlister, Communications Coordinator
Future Plans for Fenton Township
Fenton Township just underwent the first three phases of their first municipal water system, which is an extension from the county system. With the final phases going through the final testing before going live, Fenton has subdivisions looking to connect their community wells to the system including areas not along the original route, so the water system is looking to start more phases of installation. In addition, the township is looking to break ground in the beginning of 2026 on a bridge project. The Thompson Road bridge project will see roundabouts installed on either side of the bridge that crosses over US-23. These upgrades to the township infrastructure will lead to more developments along that corridor of the township.
My Fenton Township is going to play a vital role in communicating project developments, traffic delays, etc. to the community. Being able to reach the community in real time when construction needs to reroute traffic will be a huge asset in keeping the community informed so they can make any adjustments to their travel plans and not be blindsided by a detour.
Advice for Other Municipalities thinking about implementing GOGov
Monica explained that Citizen Notifications is one of the most user-friendly platforms from both the content side and for the users of the app.
“We have a portion of our population that spends time out of state, and this helps them stay connected while out of town. From the content creation side, having access via the app itself on my work phone to post updates when I may not be physically in the office is essential for providing timely information updates”. Monica McAlister, Communications Coordinator
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GOGov is committed to helping municipalities and local governments enhance community engagement, streamline operations, and foster transparent communication. Our partnership with Charter Township of Fenton, Michigan demonstrates the potential of our solutions to make a meaningful impact on local governments and districts of all sizes, and our continued efforts to improve and innovate further.
GOGov specializes in providing CRM, Code Enforcement, Citizen Notifications, Online Permitting and mobile software to local governments of all sizes. We built our software from the ground up working with the departments and staff that now use our products every single day.
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