Department of Police and Office of Emergency Management
Reference: Outdoor Warning Siren System
To: Mayor Gregory Mills and Members of City Council
Through: Michael P. Martinez, City Manager
Prepared By: Chief Matthew Domenico
Date Prepared: July 8, 2024
PURPOSE
To inform and solicit Council consideration for changes to the Outdoor Warning Siren system.
BACKGROUND
On April 16th, 2024, Chief Matt Domenico notified the members of the Brighton City Council that the existing Outdoor Warning Siren System was not operational. The Brighton Police Department and the Office of Emergency Management learned the Outdoor Warning Siren system was not functional while an assessment of the siren system was being conducted to identify the root causes of two of the individual sirens not working. Community notifications were made about the status of the Outdoor Warning Siren system and the community was encouraged, and provided with information on how to sign up, for alternative methods of receiving emergency alerts and warnings.
The City of Brighton, in partnership with the Brighton Fire District, has operated the outdoor Warning Siren System since the installation of the first seven (7) units in 2005. To keep pace with development and ensure full coverage, an additional two (2) sirens were added in 2007 and three (3) in 2016. When functioning, the Outdoor Warning Siren system covered all portions of the City of Brighton, and some of the outlying areas of the Fire District. This system was designed as an all-hazards outdoor warning system but was primarily used to notify residents of tornado warnings issued within the City of Brighton. The initial cost of the system was approved by City Council in 2005 in the amount of $153,000. The additional units were covered in part by Hazard Mitigation Grant Program funding, the City of Brighton, and the Brighton Fire District. Maintenance and repair costs for the system are shared between the Brighton Office of Emergency Management and the Brighton Fire District.
In late 2023, the Brighton Office of Emergency Management learned two of the individual outdoor warning sirens, located at Firehouse Road and East Bridge Street and Brighton High School, were not functioning. These failures were identified during the regular monthly tests of the system. The authorized service vendor for the siren communication system was engaged to address the issue and during the service notified representatives from IT and the Office of Emergency Management that there were a number of significant issues with the siren system and a more comprehensive assessment and analysis was needed to determine what repairs were necessary for both the individual sirens that were not functioning, and the Outdoor Warning Siren system overall. During this same timeframe the siren located at Firehouse Rd and E Bridge St was taken down due to the teardown of the Fire District-owned building at this location.
The City contracted with the authorized vendor to complete this assessment, and in May of this year the City received the results along with estimated costs to bring the system back up to full functionality, ensure long term stability, and perform required yearly preventative maintenance of the system. The assessment concluded the antiquated communication technology could no longer be utilized to activate the sirens in a reliable and secure manner. The assessment revealed an updated radio communication system would be necessary to continue to set off each of the units. In addition to the updated communication system, the system would need forty-four (44) new batteries, eleven (11) new amplifiers and a new activation/control station.
The estimated initial cost to restore functionality to the Outdoor Warning Siren system is approximately $130,000.00. This does not include an estimated $10,000-20,000 additional dollars to add redundancy to the system and allow for activation of the sirens from multiple locations. Yearly maintenance costs are expected to be between $3,500.00 and $5,000.00, along with an additional cost every four years of approximately $11,000.00 for scheduled battery replacement for each individual siren location. This does not include any equipment which may be damaged or require replacement. See the financial impact section below for detailed cost estimates and yearly maintenance.
Part of the assessment included mapping of the coverage of the existing locations of the Outdoor Warning Sirens. Coverage across the city limits of Brighton, and the Fire District was determined to be adequate even with the removal of the siren at 27th Avenue and East Bridge Street. Re-installation at this location would require a new pole for the siren and would add an additional estimated $34,000.00 to the initial cost.
Existing Options for Community Emergency Notification
Outdoor Warning Sirens are one component of a multi-faceted approach to community notification of dangerous conditions. Whether they are effective and/or necessary is highly dependent on how they are used, how well the public follows safety instructions and the dangerous weather conditions that certain geographic locations are more prone to.
Outdoor Warning Sirens should not be relied upon as the sole system for community notifications of dangerous weather conditions. Best practice, according to the National Weather Service, is that every home and business be outfitted with a NOAA All Hazard Weather Radio. These radios operate similarly to a smoke detector and can be set to wake up and go off when a warning is issued for a specific area. These radios also have the advantage of utilizing multiple power sources and can be outfitted to alert people with access and functional needs of an impending emergency. The information provided via these weather radios are accompanied by specific hazard information and advise the action that should be taken in response to the hazard.
CodeRED Emergency Alert is the primary mass emergency notification method utilized by the City of Brighton. CodeRED is an opt in system where users can register for alerts at multiple different locations, to include schools, work, and home. Alerts can be generated for a variety of different hazards and public safety incidents and the system is routinely utilized by emergency service providers in Brighton. Residents have the ability to choose among different methods of notification and are encouraged to personalize delivery methods and types of information which work best for their families. CodeRED also offers an application allowing users to receive notifications from jurisdictions who employ CodeRED while traveling. Both the opt-in service and the application are free to our residents.
Emergency alerts are also distributed by the National Weather Service, along with other authorized agencies, in several different ways, to include broadcast television, radio, and Wireless Emergency Alerts (WEA). WEAs are emergency messages sent by Authorized government authorities through mobile phone carriers. This is not an opt-in system, and no sign-up or registration is required, alerts are automatically sent to WEA capable phones in the area of a particular emergency.
CRITERIA BY WHICH COUNCIL MUST CONSIDER THE ITEM
N/A
FINANCIAL IMPACT
Outdoor Warning Siren System initial repair and projected eight-year maintenance schedule costs:
• Year 1 (2024) $130,840.00
• Year 2 (2025) $3,300.00
• Year 3 (2026) $3,465.00
• Year 4 (2027) $3,575.00
• Year 5 (2028) $16,720,00 (Increased cost due to battery replacement cycle)
• Year 6 (2029) $4,125.00
• Year 7 (2030) $4,345.00
• Year 8 (2031) $4,565.00
• Year 9 (2032) $20,405.00 (Increased cost due to battery replacement cycle)
STAFF RECOMMENDATION
Alerting the community of emergencies and dangerous weather conditions is critically important and Outdoor Warning Sirens, as discussed above, can be a component of these notifications. As discussed earlier in this report the effectiveness and necessity of Outdoor Warning Sirens is dependent on how they are used, how well the public follows safety instructions and what the dangerous weather conditions in a particular geographical area are.
In the time span between 2003-2023 the National Weather Service has issued a total of ten (10) Tornado Warnings impacting the majority of the city and one (1) additional Tornado Warning impacting the far Eastern side of the city. Additional activations of the Outdoor Warning Sirens have been done on two to three occasions when a police officer has observed what they perceived to be cloud rotation or some other factor that they deemed an imminent safety hazard and requested activation of the sirens.
In the same time span, there have been no reported instances of significant property damage, personal injury, or loss of life related to these warnings or other activation of the Outdoor Warning Sirens within the City of Brighton, although tornados in Weld County and the Eastern Plains can often be seen at a distance by Brighton residents. According to NOAA data dating back to 1950, there has not been a tornado in the history of the City that has resulted in loss of life or damage to structures. Eight (8) separate touchdowns have been recorded in that timeframe and all have been rated as EF0 with no reported damage to property, agriculture or people.
There are some limitations on Outdoor Warning Siren systems, including the inability to effectively deliver event specific information about a particular emergency and what specific actions should be taken in response to the emergency. While the recommended action in a Tornado is to seek shelter, a wildfire, flood, or other threats may require evacuation from the area. Another limitation is that these sirens are only designed to alert people who are outdoors, people indoors are likely not able to hear these sirens and, in many cases, will go outside to see or hear the sirens and conduct their own evaluation of potential hazards.
The cost for repair of the Outdoor Warning Siren system was unexpected and not planned for. Given the timing, it is unlikely these repairs will be able to be completed before the threat of extreme weather has passed for the year.
Should the Council choose not to move forward with the necessary repairs to the Outdoor Warning Siren System, staff recommends diverting a portion of the resources that would be required to repair and maintain the Outdoor Warning Siren system to an aggressive marketing campaign to increase the opt in percentage of community members for the Code-Red emergency alert system.
ATTACHMENTS
Presentation