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Robinson council debates $3 million siren rebuild and leans toward phone-based Everbridge alerts
Summary
Council members heard staff estimates that a full replacement of 17 outdoor sirens would cost about $3,000,000 and discussed lower-cost alternatives, including replacing just central units and expanding Everbridge phone alerts; council directed staff to return with cost and coverage options and asked social media staff to boost Everbridge signups.
Robinson City Council spent the bulk of its meeting weighing whether to replace the city—s aging outdoor warning siren network or rely primarily on phone-based emergency alerts.
Speaker 1, who led the discussion, said the city—s two existing sirens are “toast” and that replacing all 17 units shown on staff—s coverage map would cost about $3,000,000. “The 17 cost $3,000,000,” Speaker 1 said, framing the price tag as unaffordable for the small city.
Councilors and staff outlined tradeoffs between the traditional siren model and a digital-first approach. A staff representative (Speaker 5) explained the existing equipment was purchased used from Army surplus roughly 20 years ago, is now obsolete and cannot be repaired piecemeal; replacement of even two working sirens would require new poles, amplifiers and…
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