Troup County staff seek FEMA grant to replace tornado sirens, ask commissioners to cover 25% match

Troup County emergency-management staff asked the Board of Commissioners on Sept. 16 for permission to apply for a GEMA/FEMA hazard-mitigation grant to replace aging tornado warning sirens and install two additional units.

The county’s proposal, presented by Zach (Emergency Management), estimated the total project cost at $918,665 and said the grant program would cover 75% of that cost while the county would be required to provide a 25% local match of $229,666. Staff recommended using public-safety reserve funds for the local share and urged the board to authorize the application before the Sept. 30 deadline.

Zach told commissioners that quote responses so far come from vendor Sirens for Cities and that one alternative vendor, Metropolitan Communications, may submit a different proposal after a scheduled meeting. He noted the system quote includes sirens, installation, activation, messaging capability and battery backups, and that the vendor’s proposal would also support remote health monitoring so staff can receive automatic notifications for low batteries or other faults.

On how activations would work, Zach explained the siren network would generally follow National Weather Service warning polygons rather than triggering countywide alerts every time. He said the county sometimes activates sirens preemptively when neighboring jurisdictions have warnings that could track into Troup County, and argued a more interoperable system with neighboring cities would be preferable if costs allow. Zach also noted West Point has recently added sirens through Metropolitan Communications and that a shared system could improve regional interoperability.

Commissioners asked about the number and locations of sirens, interoperability with LaGrange and Hogansville, and whether city governments could help share the 25% match since some sirens would be located inside municipal boundaries. Zach said most sirens would be sited at county fire stations and identified a few non–fire-station locations under consideration (Reid Road, Old West Point Road at Pegasus Parkway, Tevar at Pine, and the Boy Scout camp). He offered to email commissioners a full list of existing siren locations.

The staff presentation framed the application as time-sensitive because recent federal hazard-mitigation funding is being processed quickly in neighboring counties; staff recommended applying now while continuing technical review of alternatives and warranties.

The board is scheduled to consider formal authorization during the evening meeting.