City may invest to update disaster sirens

FINDLAY — Findlay Council has been asked to invest more money to update the city's disaster sirens. At Tuesday's regular council meeting, legislation that would appropriate $31,500 from the city's capital improvement fund to replace the poles for the sirens was introduced to council. The money would be in addition to about $260,000 appropriated earlier this year from the city's capital improvement fund to replace the sirens. Findlay began the update to its 16-siren system in the spring. Service-Safety Director Rob Martin has said technological advances in new sirens, like directional sound, help make them more audible over greater distances. That may mean the city won't have to replace all the sirens to cover the same warning area. Sound testing of the sirens is used to prioritize the replacements. So far, there has been no public update on the number of sirens included in the update or their locations. Guarding against the loss of life and property due to tornadoes is on the list of priorities now being determined by officials throughout Hancock County. In the months ahead, officials from the city of Findlay and all Hancock County villages and townships will prioritize a laundry list of goals to improve local response to "natural hazards." The county is working to update its hazard mitigation plan, which is part of the requirements for federal emergency funding in the event of a disaster. The Hancock Regional Planning Commission is in charge of updating the plan. Officials met in June to discuss the process and possible goals. The plan must be updated every five years. Commission Director Matt Cordonnier said each jurisdiction will be asked to adopt the final plan via legislation. Failure to adopt the plan will result in the jurisdiction being ineligible for funding from the Federal Emergency Management Agency. Planning for tornado safety is given its own category in the mitigation plan, and includes a long list of possible actions, including creating a system of tornado shelters throughout the county, and shelters in mobile home parks and campgrounds. More sirens, improved radar coverage, integrated public alert and warning systems, and increased public awareness, are also listed as possible actions. The plan also lists "multi-hazard" mitigation actions, or those that could help in the event of any disaster, including countywide communications, warning systems and backup systems. Funding to develop and implement the plan is also needed. Developing a more formal role for the Hancock County Natural Hazards Mitigation Committee to implement, monitor and evaluate the action plan is also listed as a possible goal. Once local officials finish prioritizing the list of possible actions, Cordonnier said the information will be worked into a draft for the 2024 update. The draft will then be made available for review and another public meeting will be held. After that meeting, each jurisdiction will be asked to adopt the plan through legislation.