Council acts to replace downed emergency siren

Talk about it

The Hudson City Council moved quickly at its June 2 meeting to replace the emergency siren near the Seventh Street hill that was destroyed in a mid-May windstorm.

After considerable discussion over whether to also replace the wooden pole the Weitkamp Park siren is mounted on, the council voted to have American Signal Corp. replace just the Eighth Street siren and pole at an estimated cost of $42,481.

The new pole will be steel — and 70 feet tall. The old wooden pole was 45 feet tall.

Eric Christensen, the city’s emergency management director, explained that the taller pole will reduce the ear-piercing noise of the siren for nearby residents.

The estimated cost of replacing the Weitkamp Park siren pole with a steel pole was $15,000 (including reinstallation of the siren).

Council members briefly considered shopping around for a better price on steel poles until Christensen reminded them that the severe storm season is upon us. He said it would take American Signal four to six weeks to replace the poles and sirens once it receives an order.

With that, the council voted to proceed with replacement of just the Eighth Street siren and pole.

City Administrator Devin Willi said he expects the city’s insurance company to cover about $38,000 of the replacement cost.

Tags: news, hudson, citycouncil, siren