Festus will be getting four new warning sirens as part of the city’s effort to upgrade the entire system.
The Festus City Council voted unanimously Dec. 9 to pay up to $184,592 to Outdoor Warning Consultants in Jefferson City to replace four one-directional sirens with all-directional sirens and to upgrade to a RapidWarn automatic-manual activation system.
The $184,592 price includes a clause that allows the company to charge $425 per lineal foot to remove rock and $900 to dig the holes for the poles on which sirens will be placed. That means that if no excessive rock is found, the cost to add the sirens could be lower, council documents.
Outdoor Warning Consultants will provide Whelen Siren equipment, which costs $123,277 for four siren units and related equipment. The rest of the $184,592 cost is for labor and related fees, according to council documents.
City Administrator Greg Camp explained that the RapidWarn system is linked to the National Weather Service and provides automatic activation during emergency situations. That allows dispatchers to continue providing information to emergency responders without stopping to activate the city’s sirens in emergency weather situations.
“It’s a big-time improvement over the old sirens,” he said. “(The RapidWarn system) ties directly to the National Weather Service. This improves speed and accuracy. You’re able to localize the alerts. All six sirens will be on the same system.”
Camp said the city did not solicit bids for the project because Outdoor Warning Consultants provides services unique to the region.
“It’s a single provider,” he said. “(Outdoor Warning Consultants) is the only Whelen dealer in Missouri and Illinois.”
Camp said Dec. 20 that no date has been set for the installation of the new sirens and the RapidWarn system.
“I don’t have a timetable,” he said.