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Council debates new storm-siren plan and elects 12-month renewal for service
Summary
Council members discussed three quotes for automating storm sirens and debated whether to spend an estimated $7,000$8,000 to enable remote activation; the council later moved to renew the siren power/contract on a 12-month term and tabled large capital spending pending a lower-cost multi-siren plan.
Councilors reviewed quotes for work to make town sirens automatic and linked to regional emergency-management activation. A staff speaker explained the system would allow the county's computers to activate sirens automatically and avoid needing a local person to manually trigger them; one quote was described as roughly $7,600. Members debated the cost and whether the city's budget could cover the expenditure.
Several councilors argued for pursuing a less costly, multi-device strategy to achieve broader coverage, while others cautioned about slow manual activation during fast-moving storms. Staff noted the monthly electricity cost is modest: "The electric bill for the siren is, like, less than $20 a month." In the meeting the council ultimately moved to "strike" the current single-siren funding proposal from immediate action and asked staff to return with a comprehensive, cost-effective plan that would cover the town rather than fund a single device.
Separately, the council voted to renew the existing contract for the siren on a 12-month term so service and power arrangements remain in place while the broader plan is developed. The transcript records the motion to renew and a second; a voice vote followed but no detailed roll-call tally appears in the record.
