Aldermen Set Aside $100K for Possible Sirens Upgrade

Update (9:20 a.m.): The city will be testing its sirens Thursday and might sound them in some locations as part of its "annual preventative maintenance."

After residents objected to a plan to stop using the city's emergency weather sirens system, aldermen voted unanimously Tuesday to study the issue further and identified funds that could continue the sirens' operation.

Mayor Steve Ponto said he takes the concerns "very seriously" and wants to give residents and city officials more time to study it.

"Brookfield is an exceptionally safe community," Ponto said, adding he personally will take all reasonable steps to ensure it remains safe.

The city will not be able to use its 11 sirens as of Jan. 1, unless it spends about $71,400 to switch from a wide radio band frequency to a narrow frequency as required by the Federal Communications Commission.

Replacing aging battery cabinets that are "nearing the end of their useful life" and upgrading the power source would increase the total cost to about $97,500, a city memo says.

The city's police and fire chiefs, finance director, mayor and department heads last month recommended against spending the funds, saying the sirens were not as effective as other ways to notify residents of dangerous weather. Weather radios, local television and radio news stations, cell phones, texts and robo-calls are other ways citizens could be apprised of tornados and other weather emergencies, they said.

Aldermen on two city committees agreed Feb. 21, voting unanimously to recommend against spending the money to upgrade the sirens, effectively letting them go silent after 2012.

But then residents learned of the changes through various media accounts, including numerous reports by Newsradio 620 WMTJ and radio host John Mercure, among others.

Residents rally against end of sirens

Emails and phone calls starting coming in. About 17 such emails were copied to aldermen for Tuesday's meeting.

"I can't believe that anyone would think that it is a good idea to remove tornado warning sirens and replace them with text messages," Trish Johnson wrote to Ponto.

"After all the tornados that have ripped through the Midwest, you still hold this opinion? Will you be able to live with yourself if, God forbid, our city is hit by one and citizens died because they did not get their notification?"

One man said perhaps city officials should be recalled over the issue.

One email backed the end of sirens, saying the technology was "so outdated." That man, Gene (no last name given), said he was a law enforcement officer.

"A NOAA weather radio is the way to go," he said. "Also this issue is about personal responsibility. People need to monitor the weather and know where their kids are at all times," Gene wrote.

Ald. Gerald Mellone told Patch that while he personally voted last month to not upgrade the sirens — and continues to question whether they are needed, he has been swayed by the three phone calls and four emails he personally received.

"A lot of my constituents want the sirens to continue," Mellone said.

Ponto said he believed the issue would be revisited in the next month.

The staff memo last month said that if the city does upgrade the sirens, it should do it before the spring and summer tornado season, rather than at the end of the year.

"Lead time for the equipment is in the five- to six-week range," the memo said.