Town staff presented a proposal on Oct. 29 to install a lightning and tornado early-warning system for the Preserve park and Behan Park. The system vendor uses an ionization-based detection method that staff said detects the atmospheric conditions that precede lightning, and checks at a much higher rate than older detectors.

Public Works Director described the system as a two-unit installation (one main unit at the Preserve and a remote receiver at Behan Park) that will provide audible on-site warnings, web and mobile-app alerts for residents, and the capability for public-safety staff to activate alarms remotely. The vendor's representative and the town's meteorological consultant told commissioners the system measures atmospheric ion accumulation rather than simply detecting distant lightning strikes, and the company's sampling rate (hundreds of thousands of checks per second) is substantially higher than older systems.

Cost and procurement: Staff gave an estimated install cost of $39,000 with a budget cushion of $45,000 for unforeseen installation issues, and an annual maintenance contract of $1,500. Procurement staff said there are other lightning-detection vendors, but none use the same proprietary ionization method; procurement recommended proceeding on a single-source basis because staff concluded the vendor is the only local supplier of that specific technology.

Next steps: Commissioners did not adopt a contract at the workshop but directed staff to move the item forward as consent when ready and to prepare a policy for use of the system, including signage and procedures for schools and parks.