Council Considers Replacement Of City’s Tornado Warning Sirens

by Janice Penix

The Clarksville City Council agreed at its monthly meeting Monday, July 10, to seek grant funding to assist with the cost of replacing the city’s outdated tornado warning sirens.

Police Chief Jeff Ross reported the two newest tornado sirens are located on Clark Road near Metheny Field and near Clarksville Primary School. Both were purchased four years ago, he said, and are solar powered. Their proximity to the school is necessary to deactivate the locks on the schools’ safe rooms, which open automatically during tornado warnings.

Ross said the 11 other sirens throughout the city are 25-27 years old, and three of them are not functioning at all currently. Each time there is a failure of one of the sirens, repairs are made by Clarksville Connected Utilities personnel, resulting in increasing costs and manpower.

A cost estimate totaling over $308,000 – or approximately $28,000 per siren – was presented to the Council for the replacement of all 11 of the current sirens. Ross also said the Council could consider replacing the three nonfunctioning sirens with new equipment, which would be placed at designed outdoor locations to have the greatest impact.

Among the outdoor locations suggested by Ross were Cline Park and Lake Ludwig. Ross reminded the Council that…for the full story see the July 12, 2023 edition of The Graphic.