Pelham officials recently began offering a greener way for city residents to inform their neighbors about everything from yard sales to missing pets.

The city launched its Community Bulletin Board on the city website July 22 in an effort to make it easier for Pelham residents to get the word out about events, lost items and any other community concerns.

Through the bulletin board, the city is hoping to cut down on the number of signs posted in yards, utility poles and road signs throughout the city, said Pelham Mayor Don Murphy.

“It just brings the community closer together,” Murphy said. “The residents had a need for a place they can post information on.

“Anything from a lost pet to a lost child or whatever, we wanted to help them do that,” Murphy added.

Murphy routinely tours the city, and he said signs attached to city, county or state property are in violation of Pelham’s ordinances.

“I drive around the city a lot just to see what’s going on, so I see these things a lot,” Murphy said. “People will take duct tape and stick their messages on stop signs, yield signs or any kind of signs.

“I know they are just trying to get their messages out, but they aren’t thinking about what that does to deface the sign,” Murphy added. “If you don’t take that tape off, it will stick to the sign forever and mess it up.”

Even though the city did not plan on officially unveiling the bulletin board until August, residents and civic organizations began taking advantage of the site the day it was created.

Today, the board features event announcements from Pelham school, sports and charitable organizations, and Murphy said he hopes to see more announcements posted by private citizens.

“People can put things on there themselves, but it does come to us before it gets posted just to make sure it’s appropriate to be displayed,” Murphy said. “There are some pranksters out there that would get on there and post something bad if we didn’t check the posts.

It’s just another service that the city can provide its residents for free,” Murphy said. “We just started it, and haven’t even officially launched it yet. But people are already using it, so I think it’s going to be popular.”

To view the bulletin board, or to post an item, visit Pelhamonline.com and click the “Community Bulletin Board” link on the left side of the site.