1o. Public Safety Commission Minutes July 11, 1996.PUBLIC SAFETY COMMISSION MEETING MINUTES
JULY 11, 1996
PRESENT: Steve Labatt, Don Chmiel, Greg Weber, Brian Beniek, Bill Bernhjlem
ABSENT: Jim Sloss, Eldon Berkland
STAFF
PRESENT: Scott Harr, Public Safety Director; Beth Hoiseth, Crime Prevention Specialist;
Bob Moore, 1st Assistant Fire Chief; Richard Wing, 2nd Assistant Fire Chief,
Colleen Dockendorf, City Council; Mark Senn, City Council
o .
GUESTS
PRESENT: Craig Edwards, National Weather Service; Harold Strabola, State of MN, Dept of
Emergency Management; Molly Koivumaki, Eden Prairie Emergency Management
Director; Scott Gerber, Carver County Emergency Management Director; Allen
Anderson, Temple of Ek; Kathy Nelson, The Villager; Steven & Polly Gammon;
Chad Junker
Chairperson Weber opened the meeting at 7:10 p.m.
' Weather Alert Sirens:
' see attached
' Crime Prevention:
Crime Prevention Specialist Hoiseth gave the Commission an update of her activities and programs. The
bicycle helmet sale was very successful with sales over 1000 helmets. Officers will be handing out
citations for a free hamburger at McDonald's to children wearing their helmets while bike riding. CPS
Hoiseth is meeting with area apartment managers to coordinate a multi - housing crime prevention
program. Neighborhood Watch will be incorporated into the upcoming National Night Out event. Fire
Marshal Littfin and CPS Hosieth will be participating in the Summer Discovery Playground Program
being held next week through the Chanhassen Park & Recreation Dept.
Director Harr reported on the very successful Public Safety Open House held on June 13. Over 700 hot
dogs were served to the large crowd. The next Open House will be in June of 1998.
Agenda items of Old Business: Snowmobile Regulations, Satellite Fire Station, and Skateboarding
Issues were tabled due to length of discussion regarding weather sirens.
City Audit:
The City's audit staff recommended the City consider appropriate administrative support to the Fire
Department to aid in the increasing demands on the current chiefs. Discussion followed. It was
suggested that the Public Safety Commission meet with the chiefs to consider appropriate measures. A
work session will be set up with the Fire Board, Mayor, PS Commission, Director Harr and Consultant '
Bill Bruan, on Friday, July 19, 8:00 a.m., in the City Council Chambers.
Shooting Boundary Issue: '
A Chanhassen resident requested the Public Safety Commission prohibit shooting/hunting in his '
neighbor's property. Discussion followed. Director Harr will instruct the homeowner to access 911
when shooting violations occur. He will also meet with the DNR Conservation Officer, and Chanhassen
deputies to inform them of the homeowner's concerns. Commissioner Bernhjelm suggested a handout be '
given to all hunting /shooting applicants informing them of existing statutes and ordinances, which
actually is now being done.
Commissioner Bernhjelm motioned, Commissioner Beniek seconded, to approve the April 11, 1996, '
minutes. Everyone voted in favor, and the motion passed.
Commissioner Labatt motioned, Commissioner Weber seconded to adjourn the meeting. I
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PUBLIC SAFETY COMMISSION MEETING
JULY 11, 1996
WEATHER ALERT SYSTEMS
Scott Harr: Greg, thank you. This is somewhat a formal Commission meeting because the issue
at hand is multi- faceted that I wanted to take an opportunity to provide information on the record
to the Public Safety Commission, and in turn the City Council, about the issue of weather alert
sirens and alternatives in the City of Chanhassen. I supplied the Commission and Council with
information about the history of sirens in Chanhassen, and the status of alert systems, but for the
record, and for guests present, I would like to briefly review this material. Chanhassen presently
has one siren, and that's not an inverting mistake, it's not an accident. It was the one siren
purchased to cover the populated when FEMA had siren money available decades ago.
Chanhassen had acquired the one siren that was needed. As the population continued to increase,
the City had continued to look at what systems are available to alert people to weather
emergencies. The City has not purchased more sirens to this point for several reasons. First of
all, historically sirens were, as many of us grew up calling them, air raid sirens. They were
developed to warn the populous of an impending enemy attack. As the threats from the cold war
subsided, FEMA and other jurisdictional units took an all- hazards approach to emergency
management, and said let's use the system we devised for civil defense for the multitude of
problems that might arise including weather emergencies, and the sirens seemed to be an
appropriate way to warn people of problems. They began to take on the term of tornado sirens.
Whatever they been called, they've been developed and intended to be outdoor warning systems.
When sirens were first developed, people were outside, or if they were inside, few people had
air- conditioning; windows and doors were open. They were certainly an effective means to let
people outdoors know of an impending emergency, but they were fairly effective for indoors as
well. A lot has changed with construction; homes were closed up, they are built extremely tight,
especially the tornado -type weather were it is hot and muggy. People have air - conditioning units
on. Outdoor warning really became less and less practical to warn people indoors. Ten years
ago when Chanhassen took a look at weather warning, the question was - was it worth buying
additional sirens when they were not serving as well as they might have been, because of the
reasons that I stated.
At that time, we really saw weather alert alternatives on the horizon. Technology that might turn
radios and televisions on, technology that would possibly work with smoke detectors to provide
an alternative warning to tell people to turn on radios and televisions; working with cable
television networks to scroll information on TVs, lots of things were possibilities, and
development looked soon to come.
At that time, we met with Jim Franklin, Director of Emergency Management and representatives
from our Public Safety Commission, and told him we would like Chanhassen to be the test site
for these alternative alert systems. We cited growth forecasts, population increases, etc., as
reasons we thought Chanhassen would be the perfect spot for testing these units. It sounded like
a good idea to everybody. Fact of the matter is, we have not seen this technology develop as
July 11, 1996 1
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Here we are wondering where to go from here. As the Public Safety Director, my responsibility '
is to make sure the city is protected as well as we can be. We are sort of in a weather alert corner
right now. Sirens are still being sold. I submitted quotes on sirens to the Commission and
Council. Weather alert radios are still available. Howard Strabola from the State Department of
Emergency Management is going to talk a bit about technology on the horizon, and I think a
decision needs to be reached by the Commission and Council - what is our plan. There is a
number of alternatives - sirens, educating people about weather alert radios, waiting for the I
technology or combination.
With that introduction, that's what we are here to do, is to make some sort of a formal decision.
I have been working with Federal Warning Systems, who is a primary supplier of warning sirens
throughout the country, and particularly in Minnesota. I met with them several moat ago, and
sat down and said - here's what we are thinking about. I need some general quotes. I said there '
is two alternatives I would like to look. I would like to get a quote on what it would take to
cover the entire city with sirens. It would be about 11 to 14 sirens, depending on some specific
t
At that time, we met with Jim Franklin, Director of Emergency Management and representatives
from our Public Safety Commission, and told him we would like Chanhassen to be the test site
for these alternative alert systems. We cited growth forecasts, population increases, etc., as
reasons we thought Chanhassen would be the perfect spot for testing these units. It sounded like
a good idea to everybody. Fact of the matter is, we have not seen this technology develop as
rapidly as we anticipated. We will be discussing the status of these warning systems tonight.
We still were not sure that sirens were going to fill the bill. Alternate warning devices were not
coming to be as quickly as we had hoped, and so the system that seemed the most appropriate
were weather alert radios. Chanhassen embarked, on what I think, one of the most creative
approaches to providing people with weather alert technology; we established a system a number
,
of years ago, our relationship with a retailer and their wholesaler to provide top of the line alert
radios at cost on a one time basis. We spent a significant amount of time, effort and finances
advertising these radios. While we sold 250, our goal was to provide radios to every business,
'
home and institution in the city. Of course, 250 was a far cry from the numbers that could be
used in town. We started following up with people that had the radios, and learned some things
that concerned us. Radios were being turned off and let off, even during storm conditions
'
because people would get frustrated listening as a storm moved across say the northern suburbs.
They would just get tired of hearing alert after alert that didn't really affect them, especially in
the middle of the night. They got turned off, left off, and forgotten. People wouldn't want to be
disturbed even though we had conditions that might produce storms in our areas. Still state of
the art technology in a sense, but during the last two storms, we received more calls than ever -
"where's our sirens in town. We just moved to town, and we don't hear the sirens." Our sirens
aren't working and we've explained to people this whole series of thoughts, but we've learned
that people still expect sirens. When I say we have had a lot of calls, we've had 12 to 15, but
that's a significantly greater number than we've ever received, because of the two major storm
'
systems we've experienced this year. In talking with people, they are telling us that they.still are
used to sirens, even if they can't hear it inside, they'll go out and listen when they hear the rain
pounded on the windows. They'll go out and open up the door or window, because that's what
'
they expect.
Here we are wondering where to go from here. As the Public Safety Director, my responsibility '
is to make sure the city is protected as well as we can be. We are sort of in a weather alert corner
right now. Sirens are still being sold. I submitted quotes on sirens to the Commission and
Council. Weather alert radios are still available. Howard Strabola from the State Department of
Emergency Management is going to talk a bit about technology on the horizon, and I think a
decision needs to be reached by the Commission and Council - what is our plan. There is a
number of alternatives - sirens, educating people about weather alert radios, waiting for the I
technology or combination.
With that introduction, that's what we are here to do, is to make some sort of a formal decision.
I have been working with Federal Warning Systems, who is a primary supplier of warning sirens
throughout the country, and particularly in Minnesota. I met with them several moat ago, and
sat down and said - here's what we are thinking about. I need some general quotes. I said there '
is two alternatives I would like to look. I would like to get a quote on what it would take to
cover the entire city with sirens. It would be about 11 to 14 sirens, depending on some specific
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July 11, 1996
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research they are doing. I said as an alternative, why don't we look at the possibility of just
doing the parks. If we acknowledge that sirens are meant for being an outdoor warning system.
We emphasize parks so strongly in Chanhassen, maybe it would be less expensive to simply put
sirens in parks. I was surprised when I got the quotes back that putting sirens in parks was twice
as expensive as covering the entire city, because the large units that would be used to cover the
city, again, we could do 11 to 14 sirens, but we have about 33 parks, and to put sirens in each
park, well, you're basically doubling installation costs. So far as sirens go, it's actually cheaper
to cover all of the city. I did meet again on Tuesday with Federal Warning Systems and their
installer. They are going to provide a more exact quote. The one that you have is based on
looking at the map, but there are issues that affect siren placement in numbers including terrain,
wooded areas and anything else that would affect hearing distances for the sirens. Chanhassen is
certainly is unique in both of those areas. They have been working this week, and I'm hoping to
have an exact number of sirens that they would recommend within two more weeks. They are
also looking where the best place is to mount those, water towers, whether they need to be on
their own standards, etc., and also taking a look at the communities around us, so that we could
benefit from overlap in that area. We are still looking at probably in the area of $130,000.00 -
$140,000.00 if we were to say let's cover the city with state of the art radio controlled, battery
backup sirens. That would include replacing the unit on the fire stations which is going on two
decades old. It would be appropriate to just update it as well.
We did advertise this meeting through several articles in the newspaper. Everyone that has
called Chanhassen with siren concerns this year received an invitation. I appreciate the people
that attended. I would like to just briefly introduce our special guests tonight, in addition to the
Public Safety Commission on which the Mayor sits. Howard Strabola from the State of
Minnesota, Department of Emergency Management is here, and I appreciate you joining us,
Howard. Craig Edwards from the National Weather Service was kind of enough to join us
tonight, and certainly it's good to have him here. We continue to appreciate having the Weather
Service in Chanhassen. Scott Gerber is the Emergency Management Coordinator for Carver
County, and he and I work closely together on emergency management issues, and he does this
basically for the rest of Carver County. Molly Koivumaki, the Emergency Management Director
for the City of Eden Prairie. We have talked about sirens and so we have some real good people
here to provide input, and for those of you that don't know the Public Safety Commissioners,
Steve Labatt is the deputy with Hennepin County. Greg Weber is with the Eden Prairie Police
Department. Brian Beniek is on our Fire Department and so is Greg. Brian also works with the
Plymouth Police Department. Bill Bernhjelm is the Chief of Police with Edina. We do have
several Commissioners that had prior commitments, and were unable to be here tonight.
I appreciate Councilwoman Colleen Dockendorf joining us tonight. Fire Chiefs Richard Wing
and Bob Moore, and Beth Hoiseth, our Crime Prevention Specialist, and back personing the
audio controls is Carol Dunsmore, who helps us with emergency management as well. So thank
you to those of you that came as well, and I would like to ask, well Scott, I think we'll start with
you to talk a little bit about what's going on elsewhere in the county as far as warnings and
where sirens fit in Carver County.
July 11, 1996
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anymore. We continue to get calls, not only as Scott pointed out from the City of Chanhassen,
but throughout the county of people saying we didn't hear the sirens inside the house. Why
didn't the sirens go off? Well, they did go off and you didn't hear them because they are not
meant to penetrate, they're not meant to be an indoor piece. So that's a key piece, as continue to
move ahead with technology, that we develop both an indoor and outdoor warning piece. We
have tried to change in the county communication center where they activate this siren, to not,
and when they do the test on a monthly basis on the first Wednesday of month. Instead of
calling it the civil defense siren, we've tried to make it be an outdoor warning siren. And so we
are calling it truly what it is. That's what it's meant to be. So, hopefully, that can be a piece to
continue educate as well.
We're continuing, I think, county-wide, we continue to push both outdoor and indoor warnings.
I'm been trying to really emphasize the indoor piece. An indoor piece with the weather radios as
Scott touched on, and, Craig, are you going to touch on a little bit about the piece coming down,
I know there are changes down the road. Scott talked about one of the frustrations being that you
hear that all over the place. I know there's future technology, I believe to make that specific to a
geographical location, such as Carver county or a region. It wouldn't go off for everybody.
That's a piece of change.
We also have a system in the county that the Communications Center can activate called
the in -county warning system which we have placed in the hospitals, clinics, many of the
business, nursing homes throughout the county that operates directly from Carver county. It is a
Carver county specific system. It's activated on a two tone sequential system, similar to a fire
pager system that goes off in these locations. It turns on the radio, then gets the information that
Carver county is under a watch or warning whatever that system or condition may be. It's
simply like the other pieces of the system. It says pay attention to a media device and find out
what is going on, and then monitor those things as they continue to take place.
At this point, that's kinda the overview as a whole. I can tell you the City of Chanhassen isn't
the only city that goes through some of these questions. They are many other cities throughout
the county that are currently updating their system as Scott has mentioned. One of the processes
of updating the county activation system from the Communications Center is they'll activate the
sirens which has caused all the cities to really look at what it is that effects how that works.
Scott: Ok. Thank you. And I ask that if people have questions as we hear from some of our
guests that you feel free to ask as we go on, so we don't get too far beyond and risk forgetting. If
anyone in the audience or other staff members have questions, feel free to pose them, but we
would ask that you step up the podium so we can be sure to get it on tape.
Howard, maybe we could go to you next. Again, Howard is with the State of Minnesota,
Department of Emergency Management, and Howard, you and I have not had a great deal of
opportunity to prepare for tonight as far as what I would like you to address. Much of that is
because I would like you to bring us up to date from the State's perspective where you see sirens
or alternate warning systems fitting into the entire all hazards plan.
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July 11, 1996
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Howard, maybe we could go to you next. Again, Howard is with the State of Minnesota,
Department of Emergency Management, and Howard, you and I have not had a great deal of
opportunity to prepare for tonight as far as what I would like you to address. Much of that is
because I would like you to bring us up to date from the State's perspective where you see sirens
or alternate warning systems fitting into the entire all hazards plan.
Howard Strabola: Scott said something rather important there. This is a part of a system.
Sirens of course are a part of a warning system and it depends upon I guess the money and so
forth available as to what kind of system that each community or city or county is going to
have. It's kind of like sewer systems. You can build a sewer system to take all the water if you
want to spend a zillion dollars on it but you're apt to buy a sewer system just enough to take
care of your normal... so this is the way it is. You can have everybody, buy everybody a box in
their house and... but that's out of the question. But anyway, right now there are new systems of
technology coming down and it will be in effect, I was just telling Scott here right before me
met, a thing called EAS. Emergency Alert Systems, which is a system that is coming down and
it will be effective as of 1 January of next year, which is '97. Which the broadcasters will have
in effect, the radio stations, the TV stations will have encoders and decoders where they will be
able to get warnings from any county directly to all the stations in the area so they can broadcast.
Now the EBS system, which we have now. Everybody's heard of this. The Emergency
Broadcast System, was kind of a tiered thing. If the Weather Service went to the one station and
the other station's would have to monitor that station in order to get their warnings out so it was
kind of a tiered thing. But this new system would go to all of the broadcasters at once. Now
with this system the counties will be able also, whenever they get this thing going which is about
2 or 3 years from now. And be able to turn on people's TV sets. Turn on their smoke detectors
so the counties will have this new technology but the technology will not be in these TV sets or
smoke detectors for probably 10 years. In other words, if you're going to buy a new TV set in
1998, you'll probably have it but not everybody's going to buy a TV set in 1998. In fact a lot of
people won't buy it for 10 -15 years so you're still where you are until you get the new one. The
smoke detectors will be coming on with very likely this sort of thing in probably 5 to 6 years.
Again, that's down the line quite a long ways that everybody has these things in their homes. So
they will be coming but again those are the indoor systems and not the outdoor systems. And the
system will turn on and off, by the way. That was one of the things they had about 5 years ago
that would turn things on and they found out people were on vacation and their TV sets were on
forever. So they finally got this system now where they will be able to turn on and off the TV
sets, radios. Almost anything in your house that can be bought. So that's coming down the line
but it will be, I'd say 10 years or maybe even 15 -20 years before everybody in the neighborhood
can get this and it will be, I think the law is going to require the places of TV and radio makers to
do this in 1998 I believe. So when they start there, then people will start buying them. So that's
where we're at right now. Again, outdoor warning systems are important, there's no question.
Yes sir.
Commissioner: Who will control how these TV's get activated?
Howard Strabola: It can be done by the Weather Service can do it ... EBS system. The county
will be able to do it within their County.
July 11, 1996
Page 6
Commission: Okay, so you can do it regionally. We won't run into this same problem with
weather alert radios where people are listening to other areas that don't affect them.
Howard Strabola: ...Mr. Edwards will be able to talk about that. No, this will be a local thing
which is very, very good. If Chanhassen needs something, or wants something on the radio, they
just call there ... and warn the people of Chanhassen. In fact I think probably within the county,
you can probably warn the city as opposed to whole counties.
Scott Gerber: Scott if I could interject. Just to kind of add to the EAS system. One of the things
that we have a portion of right now. That new EAS system will be able to activate not only the
major network channels. The 4, 5, 9 and 11 but it will also hit the cable channels, which is a
significant improvement from where we are now because if people are watching the cable
channels, we're going to be able to hit those folks. The other thing that that will allow us to do
is, right now in Carver County alone we have five different cable companies that we're working
with. To try and get all of them, one of the things that we tried to do a year or so ago was see if
we could get a system in place with all of those different cable companies so if we wanted to turn
it on, for not only a weather related incident, but maybe a hazardous materials incident or some
other type of emergency event within the county or community, we could activate it through that
system and hit another percentage of the population. We found that not to be successful trying to
deal with five different vendors. But with this new EAS system, it becomes a system that we
would be able to do that.
Howard Strabola: And they will be required to have that in by 1 July. The cable companies
must have their's in by 1 July of next year.
Scott Harr: Other questions up to this point? Okay, Craig Edwards from the National Weather
Service. If you could just pick up on what's been said before and carry on.
Craig Edwards: Well our fundamental mission is to get information as quickly as possible to as
many people as possible. There's 20 people in this room. Right now Howard Strabola and I are
the only ones that know that there's a tornado watch out for this area. Howard just got it on his
pager and in a few minutes we'll probably hear it on an all weather radio. So how would we
reach the other 90% of the public to get them this information? People are outdoors. They
watched the news. They're enjoying the evening. We've come so far with forecasting that we
have alerted the people earlier today that there is potential for severe storms. Even without a
severe weather watch we were telling people there was potential for severe storms. Every station
that I watched last night at 10:00 p.m. news said that there was potential for severe weather and
our station will carry the warnings first. I don't know how everybody's going to be first but I'm
sure they'll do that. Regardless, what I keep hearing after 24 years of doing this, when the media
goes out and talks to people, warnings could have been out for 10 -15 minutes. They will find
people that said we had no warning. It seems to me the real issue for this... If the siren didn't go
off, they had no warning. That's almost what I've been hearing for 20 years in this business.
Like you say, the sky could be black. Lightning, thunder, high winds. Very visual warning to
most people with common sense that something is about ready to take place. And yet if the
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July 11, 1996
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sirens didn't go off, they had no warning. No weather radio. They listened to the warning as it
comes across Scott County and then it gets to Carver County and unfortunately the first person
we tell on an all weather radio in the metro area is Carver County because we don't go further
west than that with what we do for the Twin Cities. We do warn all the way to Pierce County,
Wisconsin though and that's where people turn it off. People use weather radios with common
sense. Says okay, the warnings are going on for areas north of us, and if you're not concerned
about what's happening, turn it off. I've had the same complaints that says well it goes off all
night. Turn it off. Use your own judgment so. We get to the point where you almost have to
lead some people by the hand and you've got to say how far are we going to go with this
program. Are we going to try to please right down to the people that need a knock on the door.
Personalized phone call to say they've got a warning or are we just going to try to hit as many
people as we can with good judgment and say that we've warned the best we could. The
information is out there to warn people. People who are looking for a warning, are going to get a
warning. People who are not looking for a warning, are not going to get one. So I guess I would
be in the business of endorsing siren systems as part of the warning program. It will get people
to have a sense that they do have a system out there unique to their community. An all weather
radio is already at our end put in the encoders that we will be able to site specific for individual
counties. Press a tone and activate those radios only for those counties. Unfortunately at the
other end there's nobody selling decoders yet. So we can do that. We can warn just Carver
County or warn just Hennepin County but as far as we know that there's not a lot of market yet
for individual decoders and what Howard showed me was a pager. His pager went off and it also
gave the LED readout that said the tornado watch is in effect for the southern half of Minnesota.
So these decoders will also be able to give you a little bit of a hard text. We pretty much knew
as much information as we need to know at that time. Now we can go and turn on color radars.
So this is technology that will be implemented over the course of 5 to 10 years. In the meantime
I think siren systems will serve a good purpose for warning people as far as how many times
you'd activate those during a season, I would say that half a dozen times the sirens would be
activated for severe weather. In a particular locality. During a given year. Now if that's
economically feasible to the taxpayers to say that we would like sirens. It's going to cost this
much. You're only going to use it half a dozen times for severe weather, that would be a decision
that the Council would take under advisement but I support it as a part of the warning program
until the next century when we do have the economics of equipment and technology that can
provide information to people. Exclusive just to weather information. I find over the years
people will pay a price for something if it does something more than what, just giving the
weather information. Now this is a good piece of technology for giving weather information but
they like to buy things that gives them multiple... I think the weather radio you have, which is
an excellent initiative, even did have a radio receiver separate from that. Sometimes people hear
things on a weather radio and like to tune to WCCO to see if they're getting the same
information. So that's where we're at. We want to make sure that when the boardcast media
comes in after the event, that they have the hardest time finding somebody who says they didn't
get a warning. Because we believe we have the technology now to get information out to people.
TO give them the advance warning.
Scott Harr: Any questions of Craig at this point? I think from my perspective Craig brings up,
reinforces what we've talked about. About components of the warning system, and also the fact
July 11, 1996
Page 8
that people rely on others telling them that there's a problem and in doing some more personal
follow -up since we sold the weather alert radios, is people have told us, I don't care about buying
radios and this and that because this is something I expect the City or the County or the State to
take care of for me. I expect to be warned and when they hear the tests on AM/FM radio. See
the monthly tests on the television. When they see on the news, as I did with the hurricane this
evening. Fire trucks and police cars being driven throughout communities with people on a PA
system saying take cover. Take cover. This is really something that people have an expectation
that government will do for them and the calls that everyone has received, and I'm sure in all
jurisdictions, I didn't hear the siren. I expect you to do this. People do look to the government
to do something for them as far as warning. And I think the options are to provide equipment.
To make equipment available. To educate, or stress a combination. Next I'd like to have Molly
Koivumaki from Eden Prairie comment on their experiences to the east of us. Eden Prairie has a
number of sirens, including battery back -up sirens and to talk a little bit about keeping up with
the growth of that community and what their experience has been with lots of sirens in that city.
Molly Koivumaki: Thanks Scott. I brought along a handout that shows where all of our sirens
located. Would you all like to see that? And it's not ... that Greg and I, we work together, both
of our pagers just went off and I doubt that your's is your wife asking to bring home a loaf of
bread. This is an interesting thing that just happened. It plays right into it. We both received on
our pagers 4444 and what that is telling us that there is severe weather. That a watch or warning
has been issued. This is a piece of technology we've implemented throughout our police
department and it gives us a little bit of a heads up. I think it's a really good use of technology.
All it says to me, 4444. Look outside. Turn on the radio. Do something. Be advised. That's all
it's telling me. And that works out real well. We have I 1 sirens in Eden Prairie and the black
dots that you see on your map represent where those sirens are. Our siren program started
probably about the same time your's did Scott. I think the first one was implemented in 1974,
and it's still there. It's still there. So they do last a long time I think for the most part but. The
last siren we put in, we put in at Miller Park which is probably the closest to, one of the closest to
Chanhassen so you can see a little bit of the overlap coverage there. Sirens are difficult because,
as Scott pointed out, there is an expectation by the public that you have a siren system. There is
an expectation there. There's also an expectation that those sirens will be maintained and that
those sirens will work so once implemented, that's only one piece of it but having a maintenance
program and then taking care of that is very, very important and it's not a small matter. The
sirens don't, they don't blast forever. They're up there in all kinds of weather conditions and
through the coldest months of the year and they get cranked once a month and it's very hard and
drawing on the systems themselves so a lot of problems... I tell that to the commission and to
the members here because you need to be aware of that too. That simply purchasing them is not,
is the first step and there is a maintenance program that is inherent. That has to be followed.
The last siren that we put in, as I mentioned in Miller Park, we went around and did a
neighborhood canvas shortly after, before it went on line to let people know. An outdoor
warning system has been placed in your neighborhood and when it would activate and we went
door to door. We didn't leave door hangers. We actually went door to door to tell people and
we got a range of responses, We had some residents says, and you are probably real familiar
with some of these responses but we had some residents that were very mad because they said "I
moved to Eden Prairie to get away from this." I don't know what they were thinking they were
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July 11, 1996
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getting away from. Weather is, we don't stop it at the Chanhassen border. We are going to get
bad weather so they saw it as an intrusion. So we also had, and that wasn't the majority of the
response but we did people who were annoyed that they paid these incredible amounts of taxes
and put all this into a home and there is a siren that's going to be activating yards away from
their home. We had also people respond that they were very happy and others that just simply
did not care, and that was probably the majority. People that just kind of gave a polite nod and
be on your way. What you hear from people on the first Wednesday of every month at 1:00. It
is without a doubt, for the five years that I've been doing emergency preparedness, we have
heard from people who did not hear their siren, and that's okay. At first it used to kind of bother
me but I think it's okay because I want people to be cognizant and feel like they can call in. It's
also I take an opportunity to make it an educational experience. Talk with people about how you
are not going to hear your siren and so forth. We have, in May of this year we had the big
system come through town and I'm sure some of you were involved in that. It was, I think it was
that particular system that the news got a hold of Eden Prairie saying they didn't have battery
back -up for their sirens and the power went out and they didn't have battery back -up. Well, that
just makes a fun news story. It's without factual base. We do have battery back -up on four of
our sirens. Battery back -up is certainly and option but it made for a fun story. We had people
who live very close to sirens that did activate but because of the high winds which create a lot of
noise and that severe downpour of rain which creates a lot of noise, you simply can't hear the
sirens. You simply cannot hear it and it could be activating. Throughout tonight everybody has
talked about the need for public education. About warning systems and that just has to be the A
number 1 idea that goes into the planning of your warning system. Not just the purchase, nuts
and bolts and how we're going to buy it and if it's a wood pole or a metal pole or how you're
going to do it, but how you are going to communicate this to the people. You know if I asked
everybody in here to stand up and do the hokey pokey, I bet you all could. I bet you would know
exactly what you should do. You put right foot in, you put your right foot out. Howard, you
would know how to do that. You go from town to town across the country, you do to ... you go to
parties and you hear, people hear that music for the hokey pokey and everybody gets up and they
all know how to do it. What does that have to do with warning sirens. It has to do with this. If
we can't have the same kind of learning process or thought process with warning so that when a
warning or watch is issued, people know exactly what to do. Just like they know what to do with
the hokey pokey. They know exactly what to do. We turn on the TV. We turn on the radio. We
do whatever it is that we have to do but we convey to them that they have some personal
responsibility. And it is not dependent upon the City of Chanhassen taking them by the hand
down to my shelter. I have an idea of what it is I'm supposed to do. We have a very
competitive, I believe a very competitive commercial television environment in our community.
All the weather channels. And so that goes to our benefit. It can be to our detriment if they want
to pick a little story, you know like we experienced in Eden Prairie, but that's just a little minor
irritation. We can use that to our benefit because they're beating themselves to the door to try to
get the story. To get out there and to get the pictures and to get the information and that was
only a benefit to us as I see it so if we can simply get people in our community, when they hear
the warnings, if they see bad weather, this is what you need to do. We are not without resources
as far as radio and television weather stations and so, and there's a lot of ways that that has to be
done and it can be incorporated into schools and all the safety programs that Chanhassen
currently does as well as civic groups and businesses and so forth. I get teased a lot in Eden
July 11, 1996
Page 10
Prairie because I talk about this kind of stuff quite a bit but that's alright because I take every
chance I can to say, this is what the warning is for. This is what it's all about and you know
what, I do think it has a little bit of, in fact I think, it could be coincidental but it seems to me a
few years ago when the sirens would go off, our 911 center, and those of you that have been in
one when the sirens activate, it's call after call. Why are the sirens going off? Why are the
sirens going off? Well that is not what we want to have happen. The sirens go off. It's not time
to call 911 and ask why they're going off. Unless you see, you know a big twister coming
through. Then probably that's okay to do that. But I think we've seen a decrease in that where
people feel, hopefully through a bombardment of information where they're feeling maybe a
little bit more comfortable, about that. If you have any questions about our siren placement and I
also, I believe you all have a copy too of our diagram of actually how sirens get activated.
There's a big public misconception about that as well, and I'm sorry that you don't have that.
Scott's passing that out right now. It's part of the public education process. People think that
you at the police department have that. That button that you press that sets off all the sirens and
there is no reason they shouldn't think that. They should think that unless we tell them otherwise
about the siren process, and we have had people that have called and say, I see the twister. Set
off the sirens. Well we don't have that capability but we have access to that so I think that's an
important point too in the education process is how that gets communicated and how those things
get activated. I would have to say for all the complaints that we've gotten over the years about
sirens, people would be up in arms if we did not have the siren program that we have right now.
I would have to say that we would be remiss if we took out any single one of these sirens. And
you know, we don't have any plans right now of adding any. We want to wait and see where
Chanhassen's going to put theirs.
Commissioner: Molly, can you touch a little bit on the maintenance. I mean the costs
associated with maintaining them for years. Is it a private vendor? Is it public works?
Molly Koivumaki: Yes sir. We have a contract with a group called Embedded System. There
are two groups that have been made it's contracts available and we selected this one based on
price and availability and so forth. And I brought the price along. They charge $29.50 per unit,
per month and we have 11. I'll do the math for you. That means every month we pay $324.50,
for a maintenance contract. And that adds up to $3,894.00 a year for our sirens. For 11 sirens.
Maintenance on sirens has to generally do with radio activation. That's one piece because sirens
are radio activated so there's that type of equipment. And then there's also the electo-
mechanical nuts and bolts types of things too, and the batteries and so forth. They're not
extremely complicated but they're somewhat specialized so we in Eden Prairie are very fortunate
that we have a public works person, and I would hope that you in Chanhassen have one as well,
who really has taken an interest in working on sirens and it's helped us greatly because when we
have a malfunction, we don't necessarily have to get our contract out with this person right away
because it could be something that is not included in the contract that we're going to have to pay
for but we do have a public works person who will test, who will do whatever he has to do. Re-
set. Maybe put a fuse in. What it has to do and he'll do some major stuff, or minor things like
that. And it's helped significantly. It isn't just a little thing but it's helped a lot to have him
there. We've had sirens that misfire because sometimes as the battery goes low, it causes the
siren to go off. That can be a point consternation in a neighborhood if there's nothing going on
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and a siren is going off and off and off. Somebody's got to get out there and turn it off and if
your officers don't know how, it's good to have that public works person in there to shut it off.
The other points are the cost to run it. The electricity costs. I don't have the breakdown but that
is there. The other point is painting. They are up there year round and they do get ugly and I'm
sure you are as cognizant of looks here in town because you don't want your sirens looking
pretty bad so there's a maintenance cost there and that's paint every few years. That's really
about it. They're subject to lightning strikes. That's probably one of the biggest things that
takes our sirens out. Lightning strikes that happen. You electrical malfunctions. We had a
transformer blow right next to a siren here just before I came out here so I'm sure that it
probably took power away from our siren. That particular one for a little while but they do need
maintenance.
Scott Gerber: Greg, if I could comment. This won't necessarily take away the maintenance
cost. One of the things, as our metro region we did this year, when we had such a cold, that cold
snap, if you recall when that came through. That was during when it was time to do a
Wednesday test and one of the things that we did as a metro region was to talk amongst a lot of
the counties and I think all the counties decided not to do the test. Just Molly talked about the
cold weather being, that's grease and oil and they're trying to turn bearings and it just doesn't
make sense to do that for a test so we opted not to do that, that one. So that will certainly be a
piece of helping to preserve costs.
Scott Harr: Anything else Molly?
' Molly Koivumaki: No. Unless there are any questions, and I certainly have gone quickly over
our program. Once up and running it actually does a pretty good job but the key things are good
maintenance contract, with a company that you can trust. When you go out to work on a siren,
' it's a wise idea to shut it off so it doesn't automatically go off while you're there because it could
be discomforting, to say the least. What we had happen was, people would forget to turn it back
on when they left. Now that's not just something that just happened in Eden Prairie but other
' cities have told us that too and that is a maintenance. That's sloppy maintenance contracting.
That is where it takes someone who is managing the contract to figure these things out. Why
isn't it going off? Well maybe it's simply not turned on and how do you figure those things out.
' Scott Harr: Could I just ask you, inconvenience you to step up here so we've got your question
on the record too, and if you could just state your name.
' Chad Junker: Yeah, my name's Chad Junker. Why are they even testing them like that?
Nobody's hears them. You're not going to put a siren on... I mean I don't understand. Why
don't you just start testing it in March?
' Molly Koivumaki: Well they're tested in the winter time to make sure that they're working. Tc
make sure that there isn't a problem so that when March comes along and severe weather does
start, so you don't find out at that point that your siren isn't working. In the extreme cold
weather, sustained cold weather for several weeks, we did this year, as Scott mentioned, not test
them because of that. I would want to still test mine every year. Or every month. The sirens
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Page 12
are tested silently and I don't know if you talk. The siren is tested silently four times a day I
believe or something like that, and that's done through radio transmissions. The siren is tested.
It doesn't go off. It's a silent test and they can tell if it's working or not. They can tell if it's
receiving the radio transmission. They can't tell if it's activating. Okay. So that silent test is
fine for radio transmission but the other piece of it is physically activating. That's why we have
to have the siren test. I should mention one other piece that we've done. We actually, we have
11 sirens and we ask cooperation from our public works people to staff a siren in the area that
they will be working so that on siren test day, they're actually able to be a distance from it but
actually able to see it rotate and hear it because sirens can activate without rotating and you
really want them to rotate or you lose a lot of your coverage. And that again is using our public
works people to the best of their, it's really maximizing the use of the public works people and it
gives us an opportunity to know that that siren actually did go off. Other communities have used
neighborhood watch people. Or have used businesses. You know to just say, you are our
designated siren person. Will you look and listen on siren test day and let us know if it went off.
Scott Harr: Thanks Chad. Good question. Chief Wing.
Richard Wing: Just repeat this question. You just described... are you using the... electronics or
using the old... Will you just describe what sirens you've got in place.
Scott Harr: The question was about electronic versus mechanical sirens basically and what's
available. Scott, would you like to talk a bit about that?
Richard Wing: ...Eden Prairie.
Scott Harr: Oh okay.
Scott Gerber: Well do you want to comment on what you're using first and then I'll.
Molly Koivumaki: Yeah. We are not using the electric ones that are talked about in here. We're
simply not.
Richard Wing: Just an old mechanical.
Scott Gerber: The activation system that the County's currently switching over to is the Whalen
Activation System. So instead of the two tone sequential, sequence to turn on, for the radio to
turn on the siren, it will be something that you won't hear on the radio anymore. It's a long
series of digital display. Digital activation that will turn it on. We found that to be more
effective to be able to turn this as well.
Richard Wing: Are the old horn types even available anymore?
Molly Koivumaki: Sure.
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Scott Gerber: But there's two different, you're talking two different pieces now. There's the
siren on the top that's the horn. That goes around, and yet they're available. And that's still, the
electrical, mechanical siren. And that still is probably one of the most effective and I'll give you
pros and cons of both electric and electric and mechanical sirens. But the other piece is the
activation piece and the activation piece is what triggers then to turn them on. When you look at
pros and cons with both mechanical and electrical sirens, I think certainly the City has to kind of
weigh the options that are here but the electrical mechanical sirens like you see in the quotes that
you have in front of you, can be activated either by a AC or a DC. Either with a battery or
directly connected in. The electronic sirens can be both primarily are battery, or DC operated.
The one piece that the electrical mechanical or electronic siren has is a PA system so you could
theoretically go directly into the PA system and talk about something else that you wanted to talk
about. There's one caution I think with that. If you use a PA for something, like weather related
things, is that you're going to have people coming outside to look at things or hear what is being
said instead of going inside to listen to a media device and perhaps take some shelter so I think
there's some concern with that. Or if it's the evacuation piece that you're using. People are
going outside and you want them to shelter in place or you want them to leave. Those are pieces
with that. I think there, an electro mechanical siren does not have that PA capability. The
electronic sirens I know a higher expense when you initially purchase them. Because of all the
electronics that are there, it's my impression or my understanding that they're going to be harder
to maintain as well. Again, it's all electronic components. The electromechanical sirens are
going to be more motor driven so it's the electronics that are going to turn it on but it's the motor
that's going to turn it around to make it function and that's the grease and the bearings and the
pieces that Molly talked about that can be serviced, perhaps a little bit easier than what the
modular part to the electronics are. Both certainly are functional. The City of Chaska does have
some of both. They have one electronic siren within their city and the rest of them are
electromechanical sirens. But both sirens can be activated by this new technology that we're
looking to put in place to help activate.
Commissioner: When I was growing up as a kid they had different types of sirens to listen to,
and I realize the Cold War threat is now over but do they still test sirens different? There's
different sounds they make and one was supposedly for an enemy attack. One was for bad
weather. Is that?
Molly Koivumaki: There are two different sounds. One is for weather and the other is more of a
maybe for a ... for something other than weather. Just two that I'm aware of. Howard, maybe
there are different ones out state or whatever.
Howard Strabola: Just two. Yeah, they had the attack warning which is one. It's a wavering
sound. The other is a steady tone which the alert siren. There's not a requirement any more. Is
that pretty good, that...
(There was a tape change at this point in the discussion.)
Scott Gerber: ...The new system is going to have turn it on, turn it off. Because the public as a
whole, in our expectation, doesn't know the difference between what's the attack, what's the
July 11, 1996 '
Page 14
alert so we've made it an alert and a cancel. So it's one tone throughout the county with all the '
different cities. And that's a change as we implement this new system. One of the reasons why
we chose to do that along with understanding and educating the public doesn't really know the '
difference between the two is we're not putting the activation system directly in our console so
that they can sequence and set all the sirens off. So you can turn them all off and then them all
on within a geographic area and it just made it a more user friendly and a better system I think to ,
be able to use.
Brian Beniek: Is there going to be an all clear? You said there's two tones so there's still the, '
it's coming and it's over.
Scott Gerber: No. And good question, and thanks for bringing it up Brian. But there is not an '
all clear and there is not an all clear that's issued. And that's something that we experienced the
last storm that came through. We had another kind of series of systems that came through the
County, part way through after we had already set off the sirens for a portion of things. We '
chose to activate the sirens again because of some activity we were getting from spotters. I don't
know that we would do that again and the reason is because we did get calls into our 911 center
saying, does this mean that we have an all clear. So the sirens are not issued again for an all
clear. The on and off is, so that the dispatch center can cancel it so it doesn't have to run it's full '
cycle. Otherwise it will shut itself off. But the cancel button has the ability to cancel it.
Bill Bernhjelm: I have one question for Howard. You know we talk about public education and ,
it seems like, and you always see, they always tell you about pull over when you hear the siren
on the right side of the road. You always see advertising on public service announcements but I
never see anything to educate the public on outdoor warnings. I mean most the stuff I read about '
are either the newspaper about the sirens or the fact that I live across the street from the fire
station and hear it all the time. Is the State going to do some public service announcements to? I
mean I think that would be a good way to get the word out because there is a lot of this all clear '
thing. We no longer have this two warning system.
Howard Strabola: Well we can't do that. Excuse me. We can't do the two warning because '
there might be some counties that want to do that. In other words, we're not going to say that.
We have a Tornado Awareness Week during April usually where we do push all this stuff out to
the people. I think they've been doing a little better job, don't you Molly, recently in getting the ,
information out. But some of the papers like pick one, Star Tribune. Unless you pay them, they
don't put anything in there. It's really tough to get something in there. In the paper. And the
radio stations and TV stations, usually the TV stations are very good about it. Particularly the ,
weather people. During that week, typically they really saturate that. In talking about the sirens
again, we expect those people to turn on their news media, is what the sirens are all about. I
think we've talked about that and that's why we don't have an all clear. Just to get away from ,
this thing with two sirens going off twice. Because I know St. Paul does this several times. If
there's something going through they'll do it again and that's not an all clear. We have never
said that we'd ever give an all clear so that's the reason we do it. So if you talk to the media or '
look to the media so they will know, they will tell you when the thing is through. You know, this
sort of thing.
' July 11, 1996
Page 15
I
Bill Bernhjelm: It almost seems to me that these counties should all get together and come up
with one specific, I mean I might be here but I go to Ramsey County and their siren might be, it
seems like we all should get on the same page. I don't know if that's possible but.
' Howard Strabola: We tried, the first Wednesday of the month is when we test them but these are
your sirens. They are Scott County's or Carver County's, or whatever, their sirens. But Dakota
County sounds their's in a severe thunder storm no matter what. Their's goes off in Burnsville,
Lakeville, all the time. And they're kind of, what do you call them?
Scott Gerber: ... the maverick.
Howard Strabola: The maverick over there.
'
Scott Gerber: They do their own thing.
Howard Strabola: They do their own thing so we really have no control over those sirens. We
suggest this but it is up to the individual community or county... We have no control over those
'
things at all.
Greg Gerber: Howard, if I can comment though, I think in general, in the metro area we are all
'
on the same page and we all do activate the sirens for a tornado warning that comes from the
Weather Service for your specific jurisdiction, and /or spotter information that comes from the
locality and I think there's a number of organizations, one in particular that I know Scott and
'
Molly and myself and others, Craig and Howard are a part of that's a Metropolitan Emergency
Managers Association that covers a large area that gets everybody to talk and do the same thing.
'
And I think that week in April, when it is the severe weather awareness week, is a big thing and I
think it's got people, the schools and there are a number of pieces that have been. It's certainly
not the end all or the cure all but I think it has gotten better, at least in the years that I've been a
part of this. We do have a member of our local media here and I know our local press has also
been an active part to be able to with that as well and that will only continue to help us to get that
information out to people.
' Scott Harr: I'd also like to invite any guests or others here to feel free to step up and ask
questions. I also appreciate that we've got several more people who have joined us, including
Councilman Mark Senn. Any other questions from either the commission? Chad go ahead, and
' I can just repeat it if you want to stay put.
Chad Junker: Okay. I want to make a comment too that with that last storm. We do not,
' everybody does not have access to the other types of media when a storm is happening. You
know I'm a teacher and if you're in an enclosed room, the first thing you heard was the siren and
you knew that something was happening. And we went down to the locker room for an hour and
' a half. It seemed like years with 200 kids down there... but I just wondered, I agree with what
you're saying but the same way with a department store. Anything that's an enclosed room, you
don't know what's going on outside. And about the tight construction. We might be weird at
July 11, 1996
Page 16
our household but when there's a storm we open up the windows so we can see and hear if
there's anything going on and I think we only had the air conditioner on twice this year so far.
So there's people who do have those things, and the air condition units not on and the windows
are open so you do hear...
Scott Harr: And as a part of our process, and I think those were all accurate comments and good
comments. As a part of our weather radio purchase program we specifically contacted the
schools and churches and businesses because we understand that the people inside, especially in
these large block buildings don't know and it's critical that someone at the front office be aware
of what's happening. And Beth from our department is the primary contact in Chanhassen.
Scott Gerber is elsewhere in the county and when they go out to do surveys for homes,
businesses or institutions, with regards to weather emergencies, I know they make it very clear
that there has to be someone that's there all the time that there's people in the building that have
access to a weather alert radio and Beth and I did a building survey within several blocks of this
building not too long ago where they run shifts 24 hours a day, during the daytime hours.
There's people in the front office but at night there isn't so they actually set up several warning
radios throughout so that people wouldn't be left literally in the dark not knowing. Other
questions.
Brian Beniek: I just had one other thing. In regards to the deal down in Lakeville or Eagan was
it in May. Just so I understand this. They had sufficient or they had enough sirens there but it
was their decision not to sound them. It wasn't that there was a malfunction or what turned out
to be the problem that they got so much media attention about sirens there?
Howard Strabola: Actually they had a warning down there. Somewhat. A siren did go off. But
again, these things developed, and you can talk to Craig here but if I'm not mistaken, that sucker
developed right over them.
Commissioner: Which one are we talking about now?
Howard Strabola: The 19` of May wasn't it?
Brian Beniek: I believe it was, yes.
Scott Gerber: No, that was where two storms went by and one went by about 10:30. I think
there was some large hail or something over in this area. And then I was getting home and the
TV weathercaster was one carrying complete radar coverage and I knew that there was another
storm coming through, and that developed right here in Chanhassen.
Howard Strabola: Yeah, I think that just kind of went right over the top so.
Scott Gerber: But there was a tornado warning out for Sibley County and it was changed to a
severe, or I think it might have been a tornado warning for Chanhassen too at that time. But the
one, there was one a couple weeks ago, a Saturday, I think it was June 19` No, June 29
J
' July 11, 1996
Page 17
I Howard Strabola: Hastings?
Scott Gerber: Yeah, that was the Hastings thing. That developed in Scott County, near ... and
moved through Lakeville and we really weren't getting reports of what was going on with that
thing until it got to about Farmington.
Brian Beniek: But the one on May 19 th , if I remember correctly, there was a lot of attention
about people saying that the sirens weren't activated or they didn't hear them. What was the true
cause down there? Was it they weren't activated? There weren't enough? People were inside
and not hearing them? Do we know what the true cause of their complaint was?
' Howard Strabola: I was there the next day. I went down there the next day. As far as I know,
they were activated.
Brian Beniek: Okay. And they have enough throughout the community to sufficiently ... Okay.
Scott Gerber: See one of the questions and the concerns is the siren systems are fine when we're
all up and awake and expecting things but this storm hit at 12:00 at night. So how good is sirens
going to be at 12:00? You'd have somebody sound asleep and then a reporter comes up and
says, did you hear the sirens and they say no. We were caught off guard.
' Howard Strabola: Yeah, that was true so, if I'm not mistaken, they were all... I can't say that
absolutely for sure but we discussed that and I think we were told it was. I can get that
' information. In fact I can tomorrow, I'll get the information for you. But again it was midnight
or something.
t
Scott Harr: Other questions? Comments? Well if I may very briefly recap the discussion. From
what I've heard here tonight, and as a member of a number of emergency management
organizations as well, emergency management involves an all hazards approach to prepare for
emergencies and disasters. An alert and warning component is one aspect of this planning.
Similarly sirens remain one aspect of the siren, or of the warning process. And my
recommendation as the Public Safety Director for the City of Chanhassen is that you as the
Public Safety Commission make a motion to recommend to the City Council that outdoor
warning sirens be purchased and installed to cover all the city of Chanhassen as one component
of alerting the public and that the Public Safety Director be directed to work with the Council,
should they wish to acquire sirens, through the 1997 budget process to implement this
recommendation.
Brian Beniek: I guess I'd just like to make one more comment, and correct me if I'm wrong but
what you're telling me is that this technology that's on the horizon, we can have all the
technology in the world but these devices are outdoor warnings and all the technology in the
world inside the home is not going to do any good to people who are outside.
Howard Strabola: Not the sirens will not. Basically no.
July 11, 1996
Page 18
Craig Edwards: And I will go on record to say, there will still be storms that will strike that the
sirens didn't go on. We haven't come that far with our skill yet to hit 100% so if we get that on
the table and just make it clear that this is the best we can do, we'd always like to be perfect but
in the real world there will be some things that will sneak up on us. Again the siren systems are
your's. The Weather Service does not control, push a button. We do recommend when you can
activate those, or should activate it but if somebody reports something and you have control over
those sirens, you by all means can activate them. We set up a policy last year where a
community in Hennepin County activated the tornado sirens based on somebody's report of a
funnel cloud and we chose not to put a tornado warning out. It got very confusing because the
public heard the sirens going off and there was no warning from the Weather Service so we have
a policy in effect that if a community activates a sirens, and the Weather Service hasn't issued a
warning, we will activate the weather radio to tell people why they've activated the sirens. Even
if we do not issue a tornado warning. We didn't want to get the point that the tail was wagging
the dog. That you pushed the siren button. Now let's stand back and see if the Weather Service
issues a warning so we again are out there to provide information to people on what is being
reported and what is being spotted. Get them to take precautions.
Bill Bemhjelm: Well I'll make a motion that we recommend to the City Council the purchase of
the siren and whatever Scott said.
Greg Weber: Second?
Commissioner: I'll second it.
Greg Weber: Any further discussion?
Bill Bernhjelm: I just want to say a couple of things Greg. It seems to me that we're never
going to get everybody, and it's kind of unfortunate I think that we have to take the handle
approach to some folks that will be vocal and maybe have unreasonable expectations of what the
government should or could provide for them. But I think in this particular community, the
amount of outdoor activity is encouraged and the outdoor facilities that are available, the lakes
and the beaches and so on and so forth, that we have, it's probably an important part of what we
should be providing people. I would support that.
Greg Weber: Anybody else?
Scott Harr: Greg, just before the vote. If I could comment, and I don't see this recommendation
as an all or nothing vote to the Council. Having worked with this Council throughout Mayor
Chmiel's 8 years and getting to know Council members that have come on since that time, taxes
are a primary concern of the City Council and that's certainly something that's going to be
examined closely and should the Council wish to proceed with sirens, they may want to look at a
phased approach of acquisition and installation. I know that the one supplier that I've spoken
with has a lease to own program or with the amount of businesses continuing to come into town
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July 11, 1996
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and tax districts that may or may not be developed, I think there are alternatives that the Council
could look at through the budget process.
Bernhjelm moved, Weber seconded to recommend to the City Council that outdoor
warning sirens be purchased and installed to cover all the city of Chanhassen as one
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component of alerting the public and that the Public Safety Director be directed to work
with the Council, should they wish to acquire sirens, through the 1997 budget process to
implement this recommendation. All voted in favor and the motion carried.
t
Taping of the meeting ended at this point.
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