Douglas County weighs replacement and encryption plan for outdoor warning sirens

Whitney Shipley, director of Douglas County Emergency Management, told the Criminal Justice Committee on May 1 that the county’s 26 outdoor warning sirens are currently operational but aging, and 17 of them are at or near the end of their service life and no longer have factory replacement parts.

Shipley said the county relies on several public warning systems — National Weather Service wireless phone alerts, weather radio broadcasts and local broadcast media — and that the county’s responsibility is the outdoor siren network. “There are 26 sirens, and I’m thrilled to tell you that as of today, they all work,” Shipley said. She cautioned, however, that 17 units, mostly inherited in approximately the same era, have horns and rotating mechanical parts for which the manufacturer no longer supplies replacement components.

The nut graf: the county must decide whether to start a multiyear replacement plan, maintain the current “fix when it breaks” approach, or remove some sirens from service and rely on alternate warning channels. Those choices carry trade‑offs for cost, maintenance and public notice reliability.

Shipley summarized options and costs: a security/encryption and routine maintenance package to update diagnostics and prevent unauthorized remote activation, she said, would cost about $70,000; replacing an obsolete unit costs roughly $30,000 apiece. She told commissioners one recommended approach was to replace three units initially and use parts from those to keep other at‑risk units operating until a longer plan is funded.

Shipley also said diagnostics are currently limited: the outgoing activation signal works across the network, but approximately half the sirens do not “talk back” to county systems because of radio alignment and maintenance gaps. That reduces the county’s ability to perform predictive maintenance and to confirm remotely whether a given siren actually sounded. She described rising repair costs when a horn or rotor fails and a bucket truck is required for access.

On security, Shipley noted there have been documented cases elsewhere and an uncorroborated report locally that an actor was able to trigger a siren. “It’s been brought to our attention that it has happened here. Someone has cracked the code on how to sound the sirens,” she said. She recommended encryption of siren controllers to reduce the risk of unauthorized activation.

When Commissioner Cavanaugh asked whether FEMA requires sirens, Shipley replied that FEMA’s federally funded public‑warning contributions are the phone alerts and weather‑radio broadcasts and that FEMA does not mandate local sirens or require them as a condition of federal assistance.

Shipley asked the committee to consider whether to include preventive maintenance or a phased replacement program in the county budget cycle and to direct staff whether to prepare a formal long‑term funding plan.

The presentation closed with Shipley offering staff recommendations and a request that commissioners discuss options with budget staff during the upcoming cycle.

Ending: County staff will bring costed options into the budget process; commissioners did not take a formal vote at the meeting.