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Germantown approves application for FEMA 50/50 grant to update emergency alert sirens
Summary
Trustees voted to apply for a FEMA 50/50 grant to update village emergency sirens; Chief Martin said the grant would cover 50% of upgrade costs and that if the village declined to provide the required local match the grant would not be accepted. Annual siren maintenance is about $3,500.
Trustee Warren pulled the consent-item resolution authorizing application for FEMA funding to update the village’s emergency alert sirens to allow discussion. Chief Martin explained the program is a FEMA 50/50 grant: if the village secures the grant it must provide a 50% local match or decline the award; the chief said a full retrofit would cost several hundred thousand dollars but that targeted updates to make the system automatically trigger via National Weather Service alerts would be cheaper. He estimated yearly maintenance at roughly $3,500 and noted that maintaining the existing system carefully could keep it serviceable for years.
Trustees expressed mixed views about the sirens’ continued role; some described them as an aging technology and questioned whether more modern mass-notification options should replace them, while others stressed practical scenarios where sirens add redundancy (e.g., residents working outside without their cell phones). After discussion the board voted to approve the resolution to apply for the FEMA grant; staff clarified that if the village later decided not to fund the local match it would decline the grant at that time.
Next steps: proceed with the application and await FEMA decision; staff will report back if the grant is approved so the board can decide on local matching funds.
