Public voices support for siren

Every member of the Sundance City Council has heard feedback over the last month on one specific issue: the possibility of scrapping the noon siren. From the strong reaction of the community, it seems that a sizeable chunk of the community opposes the idea to get rid of the daily test.

The suggestion was made at last month's meeting by Emergency Management Coordinator Ed Robinson, who is concerned that it, "Breeds complacency with your general public." After a while, people start to tune the siren out for at least the first 30 seconds, because they are used to hearing that sound on a daily basis.

Clerk Treasurer Kathy Lenz noted that City Hall has had a lot of feedback from people since that conversation, with most people saying they like to hear the siren at lunchtime. Council Members Callie Hilty and Joe Wilson said they had received the same message from people they've spoken with.

"There is some pushback in the community," agreed Mayor Paul Brooks, who said there appears to be a concern that "the out-of-towners are calling the shots in our community."

This appears to have sprung from one of Robinson's stated reasons to question whether the noon siren is a good idea. He pointed out that the noon siren scares tourists and visitors until someone lets them know it's just a test.

However, Robinson also said last month that scrapping the siren would be for the sake of the community itself. His concern is that the public has become so accustomed to the noise that it no longer has the same effect of alerting people to danger.

Brooks said on Tuesday that he feels Robinson's motive is to create uniformity throughout the communities. Robinson originally approached the council because he is seeking to add an additional reason for the siren to sound to reflect recent changes to the National Weather Service alert system for storms that are categorized as severe.

In the process of doing this, Robinson realized that each of the county's towns have different systems for their sirens, different people responsible for setting them off and different criteria for doing so. He would like to standardize these alerts, using just one signal to indicate there is danger and that people should make their way to a safe indoor location.

The council did not make any decisions regarding the siren at Tuesday's meeting because Robinson has not yet presented a recommendation.