By Karen Gleason
The 830 Times
In the aftermath of a flash flood disaster in the Texas Hill Country, Del Rio city officials
are re-examining the need for an emergency siren warning system.
City Manager Shawna Burkhart has proffered a number of options for the city to re-invest
in its emergency siren warning system.
Burkhart discussed the city’s siren alert system with a group of city and county elected
leaders and administrators Tuesday when they met to ramp up plans for the area’s next
natural disaster.
Burkhart told the group, which met at the city’s emergency operations center, that sirens
have been one of the topics discussed by state and local officials in response to the deadly
July 4 flash floods in Kerrville and other Hill Country cities.
Burkhart told the group, “I know the judge (County Judge Lewis G. Owens Jr.) wanted to
have a meeting regarding pre-planning a flooding event, but I wanted to first talk about
sirens because that’s the pressing issue in Kerrville.”
She distributed a handout summarizing the city’s review of its siren system and noted that
the city has been looking at its siren system over the past eight months.
The memo reads that a lightning strike during a severe thunderstorm at the end of August
2022 “damaged the siren activation controller located at the police department dispatch
center.”
Burkhart said the controller was sent out for evaluation and repair.
Her memo reads, “During the May 9, 2023, regular city council meeting, a presentation
was given by then-Emergency Management Coordinator Jose De Luna on the status of
the outdoor warning siren system. At that time, there were only four outdoor warning
sirens operating correctly.”
Burkhart wrote since presentation to the city council, two of the outdoor warning sirens
“have been removed for commercial development, one from 2015 N. Bedell Ave. and the
other from Highway 90 and Dallas Drive, leaving 13 sirens mounted.”
She said the average age of the sirens remaining is about 20 years.
Burkhart said the city has received proposals from American Communications, one for “a
complete turnkey solution for replacement of all equipment.”
She said this proposal includes five sirens with eight speakers, seven sirens with five
speakers and all new poles and new consoles “that include diagnostic as well as voice
audio capabilities.”
“The new footprint would be redesigned to reduce the total number of sirens to 12,
allowing the sirens to be placed farther apart and still have the required decibels at the
maximum distance. Pricing in 2018 was listed at $388,000,” Burkhart wrote.
The second proposal from American Communications would have the company “replace
damaged encoders and place all sirens on a software that would allow the city to use one
portal for activation,” the city manager wrote.
“This proposal would also allow the vendor to replace all batteries and conduct an
inspection of all sites, including each pole, grounding sirens and cabinets. The vendor
would also replace any amps, drivers or boards that need replacement and refurbish the
existing system. This does not consider the expected life of the sirens. Current pricing for
this solution is $54,000,” Burkhart added.
At the start of the emergency planning meeting, Burkhart told the group, “Just to let you
know, the city has $177,000 in CO (certificate of obligation) money for sirens, but it
makes no sense for us to utilize that money until we know what we’re doing. Our sirens
are approximately 25 years old. To get them up to snuff, it would cost about $54,000,
which is not to permanently work, the age (of the sirens) is still the issue, and the
viability of those sirens is questionable at all times.”
She added, “It’s about $388,000 to get (an) all-new system for the community. We are
talking about a phased approach, and we have our staff working to get a phased approach
for maybe just the San Felipe area, on what it might cost just to get sirens down there for
flooding. I just wanted to bring you up to speed on where the city was,” Burkhart said.
“Are all these sirens within the city limits of Del Rio?” Val Verde County Sheriff Joe
Frank Martinez asked.
“That’s correct,” Burkhart replied.
She added, “This is where we are, and this is what I’ve provided to city council in an
email yesterday (Monday). I just wanted everybody to understand where we are. We have
$177,000. I have a phone call in to . . . Rep. (Eddie) Morales’ office, and we hope to see
if any state funds come down, or federal funds come down, that we can tap into them.”
Later in the meeting, Arreola asked if any of the sirens remain operational.
“We don’t know that,” City Emergency Management Coordinator Amanda Aldaco
replied.
“We haven’t tested it?” the mayor asked.
“Because the panel doesn’t work,” Aldaco said.
City Public Works Director Greg Velazquez explained, “They’re obsolete, to be honest
with you. . . The controls are obsolete. We had a controls guy come in, he looked at them,
and it was going to be so costly and all the parts are obsolete, so they just recommended
to buy new, all new sirens.”
Burkhart said, “So we’re short $211,000, and that’s what I’m asking Rep. Morales to
look into and to notify us as soon as state or federal funds start rolling in for Kerr County,
that we can tap into that.”
Arreola asked County Emergency Management Coordinator Rowland Garza whether or
not Laughlin Air Force Base has a siren system, and Garza said they do.
“They have a system that they use there, internally. It’s a warning system in place that
they utilize,” Garza said.
Garza added, “The problem we’ve experienced with the sirens is, when you trigger them,
what does it mean? Because at that point, you’re told, there’s a siren, I’ve got to get
information. Does it mean if there’s two wails, it’s a flood, if it’s three wails, it’s a
tornado? So there’s still an ‘after’ part. The idea would be, what do you get with sirens,
versus putting out a message using five different mediums to get that message conveyed
– runners, emails, texts, direct phone calls, those types of things?”
Burkhart said she believed one of the lessons from Kerr County is that sirens are a
necessary piece of the emergency notification matrix.
“Something is better than nothing at this point in time, because grant money or expected
grant money to come down in the future, no telling how long it’s going to be, you want
something that is possibly going to work,” Martinez said.
“There is one other option. . . the COs for our City Hall (renovation) funds. That’s $9
million, but it also includes other city facilities. If we locate the sirens near city facilities,
the question is, can we utilize the funds or a portion of the funds, for this purpose, and so
I’ve got that call in already to our bond counsel. The bond counsel has to tell me whether
I can use it or not, but we would prefer to just knock it out and go (with) new (sirens),
because they’re already 20 to 25 years old,” Burkhart said.
The writer can be reached at delriomagnoliafan@gmail.com
