Tornado siren to move to water tower at Brookside Park - here's why it's moving
On Thursday, EMA Director Anne Strouth asked the Ashland County Board of Commissioners to approve moving the tornado siren, currently located near Edison School, to a more appropriate location.
The siren has been in operation since WWII and is in need of replacement as well.
“As you can see by this picture the siren is located on this tree line and as you can tell it is located on Sarver Paving Property,” Strouth said. “We cannot have sirens located on private property. So it does need to be moved.
“It is also drawing its power from Sarver Paving and they are actually paying the bill for that. So it definitely needs to be moved.”
Strouth displayed pictures of the siren and commented on how old and rusted it is.
With money previously set aside to replace sirens, Strouth asked commissioners to approve moving and replacing the siren. The new location will be the water tower at Brookside Park. The new siren will also incorporate a solar option for power.
“That is at Brookside Park, not at the corner of Baney and Claremont?” asked Commissioner Denny Bittle. “I just want people to understand because they are pretty close.”
Strouth said Bittle was correct and that the Baney Road location was looked at, but the park was a better location due to the elevation and area it would cover.
Commissioners accepted a quote from VASU Communications in the amount of $28,370.07 for the removal of the tornado siren at Edison School and the purchase and installation of a new tornado siren to be paid for using EMA funding.
Other actions
Authorized a Memorandum of Understanding between the Mansfield/Richland County Public Library and the Ashland EMA to allow for collaboration for disaster response services for county residents using the 211 telephone number service.
Approved travel requests for J&FS employees Kerri Schaub, Kelly Meyer, Stacy Emery and Patty Sheppard for travel to conferences. County Engineer Edward Meixner was also approved for travel to the CEAO Winter Conference in Columbus.
Approved an agreement with Midwest Veterinary Supply for the purchase of vaccines and other items as needed for the dog shelter.
Authorized the appointment of Krista Flinner as a Social Service Worker 2 with J&FS with a starting pay rate of $22.47 per hour effective Nov. 20.
Concurred with the appointment of Cameo Carey to the Ashland County Transportation Improvement District Board to fill the unexpired term of Aaron Pauly, which ends April 30, 2024.
Made transfers to Solid Waste, Sheriff, CDBG Administration and Dale-Roy School.
Approved Amendment #2 to the PY 2020 Residential Public Infrastructure Grant to extend the grant end date for the Cinnamon Lake wastewater treatment plant due to continued supply chain issues.
Accepted Change Order #1 from Advanced Concepts, Inc. in the amount of $5,400 for the purchase and installation of interior window trim at the courthouse.
Authorized appropriations to Dale-Roy Trust, Sheriff Rotary, Jail Operations and Capital Projects.
Mohican State Forestry Manager Chad Sanders presented a check for $202,007.93 of which $50,501 will go to each the county and Hanover Twp. and $101,003 to Loudonville-Perrysville Schools. The funds were from the timbering of lumber following the June 2022 tornado damage to Mohican Forest.
CEBCO Representative Hannah McKee gave the quarterly Wellness Report over Zoom.
Commissioners will meet 9 a.m. Thursday, Nov. 16 in the Commissioner’s Conference Room on the second floor of the County Office Building. The meetings are open to the public, but also live-streamed on the Ashland County Government Facebook page.
This article originally appeared on Ashland Times Gazette: EMA Director recommends moving tornado siren to Brookside Park
