Municipalities would pay for siren maintenance By Ray Barrington News-Chronicle The Brown County Public Safety Committee will recommend that county municipalities take over more of the financial responsibility for the county's tornado siren system. The committee voted to establish a policy requiring municipalities to pay for the installation and upkeep of new sirens. The county will do the maintenance and bill the municipalities. The county did not have a formal policy on the sirens, which date back some 50 years. They are activated for tornadoes or other emergencies, and are tested weekly at noon Wednesdays. With the additional growth in previously rural areas of the county, the possibility of new locations for sirens had been raised. Under the unofficial policy, the municipality requesting a new siren location would have paid for its installation, with the county taking over after it is installed. For example, in the town of New Denmark, the town paid for a siren, but when it tore down its town hall, the county, which owned the siren, paid for its dismantling, and the town paid for installing the siren at a new location. Sup. Guy Zima suggested it was time for the county to drop the sirens, calling them "a vestigial remnant." He said with modern communications, the time for the sirens was past. But county public safety communications director Jim Nickel said they were useful for many people who are outdoors and do not have access to TV, radio or the Internet. Each siren costs about $12,000 new. The county spends about $10,000 a year on maintaining the system. Sup. Harold Kaye suggested looking at a system that would "test" the siren connections with radio connections without having to actually sound them off, but hesitated when told the radio system would cost about $230,000.