Monday, February 08, 1999
Sirens coming to Kenton Co.
Warning system starts to take shape
BY CINDY SCHROEDER
The Cincinnati Enquirer
After more than a decade of discussion, officials say the beginnings of a regional storm warning system for Kenton County should be in place by year's end.
“The fire chiefs have been interested in this for 15 years or so,” said Bill Martin, chief of the Erlanger Fire Department. “Now we're finally starting to see some interest from federal, state and local officials.”
Chief Martin said the rapid development of Kenton County, combined with officials' willingness to phase in the costly project during the next two to three years, is helping make it a reality.
“What's different now is that the cities, as well as the county, appear to be in alignment with this plan,” said Rob Owens, Kenton County's director of disaster and emergency services. “Getting the three communications centers together, as well as the fiscal court and 20 cities, is not something that's done overnight.”
In the next two to three years, Mr. Owens hopes to add 42 warning sirens throughout the county to supplement the current 19.
Today, Mr. Owens expects to determine the eight sites where the initial sirens will be erected with the help of a federal grant.
On Feb. 16, he'll recommend to Kenton Fiscal Court that the county proceed with the purchase and installation of another five sirens this year, with $100,000 budgeted last July.
“We generally are (choosing sites) based upon population,” Mr. Owens said. “We've also tried to spread those sites throughout the northern, central and southern locations of the county.”
Rather than alerting the entire county when there's severe weather in one area, the sirens could be activated only where the threat exists, Mr. Owens said.
“If we have a thunderstorm of a serious nature going through the northern part of the county, we could set (the sirens) off there, without alerting the rest of the county,” Chief Martin said.
Complicating the situation is the fact that some Northern Kentucky volunteer fire departments have continued to use their sirens, rather than pagers, to summon volunteers.
“We think it's adding to the confusion,” Chief Martin said. “The (Kenton County Fire Chiefs Association) has recommended that local fire departments avoid using their sirens to call volunteers.”
Even with the fire sirens, some departments lack sirens, or have nonworking sirens, so a regional system is still needed, said Fort Mitchell Administrator Bill Goetz. He added the storm warning sirens also cover a broader area than the fire sirens, and a regional plan would help avoid costly duplication by placing sirens in areas beneficial to more than one city whenever possible.
Kenton County officials recently learned that the county has received tentative approval for a Federal Emergency Management Agency grant to begin paying for the installation of the initial eight sirens and equipment for their activation.
The grant calls for $120,150 in federal funds, $19,224 from the state and $20,826 from the county or local governments.
Kenton County officials also are talking with the Kentucky Finance and Administration Cabinet about making the local project part of a statewide contract, to further reduce its cost.
“It appears that we've been crying wolf for a long time, but it was with this end in sight,” Mr. Owens said. “Now it looks like we're all systems go.”
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