Franklin County pursues federal hazard-mitigation grant to modernize storm-siren activation

Franklin County commissioners voted Sept. 17 to move forward with a federal hazard-mitigation grant application and the administrative work needed to upgrade the county's storm-siren activation system, a project officials said would allow the county to detect siren failures before severe weather events.

Emergency management coordinator Tom (last name not specified) told commissioners the current system uses one-way VHF signals and can leave the county unaware when a siren stops working. "We've had sirens that have not gone off for months at a time before somebody said, you know, that Monday test, I haven't heard that siren in about a month," he said. Upgrading to a two-way activation system would let staff run "silent tests" and see whether a siren is operational without issuing the public alert, Tom said.

Why it matters: Commissioners were told the two-way system would let the county confirm siren status in real time and plan backups if a unit is inoperable. Tom said the county has been selected for hazard-mitigation grant consideration and now needs the commission's approval to proceed with the paperwork and federal coordination. He described ongoing work with the state and FEMA to secure final approval.

Details and next steps: The commission approved moving forward with the grant process on a motion that listed the project amount as $69,875 (the amount used for the grant application/quote). Commissioners clarified this vote did not obligate local matching funds immediately; instead, it authorized staff to continue the federal and state application and procurement steps. County staff said ongoing maintenance would be about $108 per siren per year and that cities that keep sirens in the system would be expected to budget for that maintenance locally.

Tom identified Federal Signal's LTE/cellular activation option and said other Kansas counties are testing similar upgrades. He said the county would simply replace the activation/control box on existing sirens and not necessarily swap the siren horn units themselves. "All we're doing is the activation portion of that," he said.

Commissioner remarks and concerns included ensuring equipment longevity and the practical question of who would pay ongoing maintenance. One commissioner said the proposal "sounds to me like a good step for safety." Another noted the difficulty of obtaining federal funds and asked staff to proceed only if the commission supported committing staff time for the federal application process.

Action taken: The commission voted to proceed with the hazard-mitigation grant process to upgrade the siren activation system using the quoted project amount. Commissioners voting yes were recorded as Commissioner Stonemaier, Commissioner Wehmeyer, Commissioner Meador, Commissioner Dickinson and Chair Harris.

Context and limits: County staff said the county has been selected to advance in the state ranking and that FEMA approval remains required. Staff emphasized the vote authorizes the grant process and related paperwork but does not by itself commit county capital funds beyond administrative effort. Tom said some municipalities already plan to manage their own sirens and that the county's role is activation and remote status monitoring.

Provenance: Transcript remarks by Tom introducing the project and by commissioners appear throughout the meeting; the discussion begins with Tom's presentation of selection for hazard-mitigation grant funding and concludes with the motion to proceed. Evidence excerpts: "This has been a pet project of mine for many, many years... I've kind of been going through the process, and I'm a good stopping point now to come be back to you guys and say, do we wanna proceed?" and "If the cities wanna add sirens or subtract sirens... we're just responsible for the activation of them."