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Robinson council directs staff to pursue pricing for replacing two inoperable outdoor warning sirens
Summary
After a multi-hour discussion with county emergency management and vendor representatives, Robinson City Council directed staff to get detailed pricing and a technical scoping meeting for replacing two inoperable sirens, assessing AC vs solar power, and options to join Waco’s American Signal system; no purchase was approved at the meeting.
Robinson — The City Council voted to direct staff to pursue detailed pricing and a vendor scoping study to replace two aging outdoor warning sirens and to evaluate joining the City of Waco’s American Signal system.
Council and staff spent the bulk of the meeting hearing technical options and cost factors after emergency management coordinator Ryan Durker described a recent vendor estimate and system capabilities. Durker, identified in the meeting as the McLennan County emergency management coordinator, said the quote for two omnidirectional sirens to be added into the Waco system came in “just under $68,000,” but that estimate did not include the cost of poles or electrical work.
Council members raised multiple practical and equity questions: whether to keep a local siren system, whether relocated or replaced sirens would better reduce overlap, and how to ensure residents without smartphones (the elderly, people who turn phones off) would receive warnings. One council member said the city’s older units had roughly a three‑quarter‑mile radius while proposed R4 units would cover about two miles, increasing potential coverage if sited appropriately.
County staff and vendor representatives explained several options: (1) replace and relocate the two existing sirens using R4 units that have a roughly two‑mile nominal radius; (2) join Waco’s system, which provides an auto‑activate feature tied to National Weather Service warning polygons; and (3) consider solar power for resilience if the power grid fails. The county’s summary noted the combined approach—sirens plus phone alert systems—creates a “layer cake” of warning tools.
Council members asked whether Waco’s system can accept additional sirens and whether the city would retain control over local activations. County staff said the Waco/American Signal system is not capped and can accept additional units; they also said activations can be limited to polygon‑specific areas so Robinson would not automatically sound when Waco is activated unless the warning polygon included Robinson’s area.
No purchase or contract was approved at the meeting. Instead, the council voted to have staff and representatives meet with American Signal and county radio operations to scope coverage maps, pole reuse, AC versus solar power tradeoffs, and total installed cost. The council asked staff to return with pricing and coverage analysis, and to include a January agenda update on project status.
The council also discussed grant eligibility: county staff cautioned that some hazard mitigation grants require an adopted hazard mitigation plan, which the council had addressed earlier in the meeting. Staff noted that some state-funded mitigation grant programs likely will not be active until 2026 and that grant availability remains uncertain.
Next steps: staff will pursue vendor scoping, obtain detailed installed cost estimates (including poles and electrical work), evaluate whether existing poles can be reused, and present options and budget impacts to the council in a future meeting. The council emphasized continued public outreach and alternatives (weather radios, phone alerts) while the city studies options.
