Pottawatomie County Approves $282,207 Emergency Siren Upgrade Plan

The Pottawatomie County Commission approved a comprehensive outdoor warning siren upgrade at their November 24 meeting, allocating $282,207 to modernize the county's emergency alert system and replace aging equipment.

Emergency Management Director Jennifer Merrow presented the upgrade proposal during a work session, outlining critical needs across the county's 22-siren network. The plan addresses both end-of-life replacements and systemwide technology improvements.

"Two sirens are meeting end of life, which is 25 years," Merrow explained, identifying the Belvue and Lake Elbo sirens as reaching that threshold. A third siren in Olsburg was designated as a priority replacement after extended service issues.

Merrow also highlighted concerns with two belt-driven sirens in Fostoria and Timber Creek, noting that replacement parts are no longer manufactured. The Timber Creek siren, purchased in 2000, was not originally included in the equipment replacement plan due to overlapping coverage with nearby sirens.

The approved plan includes five new siren installations and upgrades to all existing county sirens from one-way to two-way communication systems with cellular redundancy. The new sirens will be installed at Lake Elbo, Belvue, Olsburg, Fostoria, and two communities currently without coverage: Blaine and Duluth.

The two-way communication capability will allow emergency management staff to remotely monitor siren activation and immediately identify malfunctions. "The only way for us to know now whether these sirens activate is when the community calls and tells us, or we recognize it ourselves," Merrow told commissioners.

Commissioners chose to maintain the existing UHF radio activation system rather than switching to 800 megahertz technology, resulting in significant cost savings. The 800 megahertz option would have cost $436,980, compared to $282,207 for the UHF system with two-way communication and cellular backup.

The UHF system currently has a yearly maintenance fee of $4,404.56 paid by the Sheriff's Office and has proven reliable. Merrow noted concerns about "tone signaling" compatibility issues with digital versus analog tones on the 800 megahertz system.

The approved budget breaks down as follows:

Five new two-way sirens at $35,165 each: $175,825Converting 15 existing one-way sirens to two-way at $5,569 each: $83,535Encoder equipment for dispatch: $20,687Annual cellular service for all 20 sites at $108 per site: $2,160

Merrow reported having $272,715 already allocated in her equipment replacement plan, originally budgeted at $30,000 per siren for one-way communication. The current quote for one-way sirens is $32,813, while two-way units with redundancy capability cost $35,165.

The Duluth location will receive a smaller siren head with 2,200-foot coverage, while other locations will use standard 6,500-foot coverage models. Both Duluth and Blaine will require purchase of radios to receive activation tones, as these are new siren locations.

The presentation included coverage maps showing siren ranges across the county, with Fostoria's siren covering a significant rural area along Cedar Rock Lane and Raven Road.