County delays siren repair to explore other funding

A $2,000 repair to the Green Valley State Park tornado siren was tabled by the Union County supervisors Wednesday as they sought to explore other funding options.

During a statewide test of tornado sirens in March, Union County Emergency Management noted the Green Valley siren was dysfunctional. EMA Coordinator Paul Ver Meer explained to the county supervisors EMA sent the siren’s control box to be repaired.

The control box is how the siren receives alerts from the LEC dispatch system to turn on or off. The control box is broken, meaning the siren would have to be manually turned on or off if an alert is sent to the area.

In March, Ver Meer said there were two possible scenarios based on how the control box could feasibly be repaired. Preferably, the control box would be a quick fix and only cost $1,400.

However, if the control box needed a full replacement, that would cost an estimated $4,000, including the cost of installation and testing. Unfortunately, the latter scenario occurred, with Ver Meer reporting the control box is beyond repair with a project cost of $3,911.

Half of that $3,911 cost will be paid by Green Valley Lake’s friends group High Lakes Outdoor Alliance. This was coordinated through Green Valley Park Ranger Jason Hyde, who appealed to the organization Tuesday night and secured a commitment for funding.

Even with a lower cost of about $2,000, Union County’s leadership was hesitant. With the tornado siren placed on Green Valley, land owned by the state of Iowa, the supervisors were skeptical on whose responsibility it is to maintain the siren.

“The issue we have had in the past I’ve been told is nobody really knows who’s responsible for it, if it’s the county or if it’s the state,” Ver Meer said. “State says it’s not theirs. I was told that EMA didn’t do anything with it because it’s not our siren.”

Despite the ownership being unknown, Ver Meer said EMA was willing to oversee the maintenance of the siren, viewing it as a service to the public rather than what he called a “territorial match.” EMA won’t have a line item in their budget for siren maintenance until fiscal year 2028.

“What I’m looking at is, it’s a public safety issue and it doesn’t really matter whose it is,” Ver Meer said. “It needs to be fixed. I’m requesting that the board approve paying the other half through county funds so we can get this fixed because I do not have any siren maintenance money in my budget this fiscal year or next fiscal year.”

On the subject of state responsibility of the siren, Hyde said his discussions with the Department of Natural Resources and state lawyers weren’t fruitful. Hyde also said the siren notifies residents outside of the park limits, which the state said was beyond their focus.

“Yes, it is on state ground, but they feel like it’s not our responsibility,” Hyde said. “It doesn’t fall in the DNR’s purview to maintain a tornado siren.”

Supervisor Rick Friday was hesitant on the repair, noting how Shannon City had previously asked EMA for help in building a tornado siren, but was unsuccessful.

“Eight years ago, I went to the city council of Shannon City and then there are residents down there — they pay taxes — and at that time, EMA did not want to help them put in any kind of tornado system at all," Friday said. “I actually talked to them yesterday. They’d like to have one. So it’s really difficult for me to understand why we don’t help somebody, a small town that lives in the county that actually pays taxes in the county. EMA has not been able to help them, so why is EMA able to help a state agency?”

Ver Meer noted the scenario Friday described occurred before Ver Meer began his term as coordinator, and the repair of Green Valley’s siren would be for an existing siren, not a brand-new siren likely to cost up to $20,000.

While Supervisor Dennis Hopkins said he’d be supportive of the repair, he wanted there to be more exploration of funding options.

“I’m not saying I wouldn’t be for it because obviously I understand and we don’t want anybody [hurt], but I think we need to make sure that we’ve pursued all of our options as far as, are there any other grants or funding that’s available?” Hopkins said.

Ver Meer reported he has applied for a variety of grants, but also noted the timeliness of this repair.

“I have applied for grants ... but I won’t hear anything from these grants until later, like two or three months,” Ver Meer said. “We’re coming into tornado season and we need to see what we want to do about this siren.”

Hyde said if a tornado were to touch down in Green Valley, he would be the one to manually turn on the siren. However, there’s rarely time to do so, and Hyde said he’d rather inform those on the campground of encroaching weather through the park’s PA system. Hyde even gives door-to-door visits to each camper when weather is expected.

The campgrounds do not have dedicated tornado shelters, only storm shelters not rated for tornadoes. The closest tornado shelter to Green Valley Lake would be the Southern Prairie Family Fitness Center, a four-mile drive from the campgrounds. Otherwise, campers have the bathrooms.

Hyde posed a hypothetical to the board of supervisors. If the siren was not on park ground and in need of repair, would the board be more supportive of funding its repair?

Friday understood how a siren could help others, but said he’d rather see a solution where other sirens, such as building a new one in Shannon City and a repair to an aging siren in Kent, could be packaged with the Green Valley repair.

“[Shannon City] would love to have a siren, so I don’t know if there’s a shared grant or something,” Friday said. “I mean, it concerns me a little bit that we spend money on a campsite, no offense. We need to save lives, but we also have residents that live down there 24/7, not just on the weekends or during the camping period.”

Supervisor Dennis Brown, who lives outside of Shannon City limits with a city address, noted how every incorporated city except Shannon City has a siren, and said it’s Shannon City’s responsibility to fund their own tornado siren.

“It’s not the county’s responsibility for Arispe or Lorimor or Thayer or Afton,” Brown said. “It’s the city’s responsibility to fund it. ... If you want to be a city, continue to be a city, you may have to raise your residents’ taxes to pay for that.”

Hopkins was in favor of creating community funding efforts for the siren repair. He imagined a box on the campgrounds where campers could donate or a notice in the Creston News Advertiser.

“I don’t know how Jason [Hyde] feels about this, but set up a box in the park that says, ‘help us pay for your own safety if you want to donate to this siren,’” Hopkins said.

Ver Meer said he’d begin communications with Shannon City on a potential new tornado siren, which he estimated to cost between $17,000 to $20,000. Hyde said he’d begin communicating with local siren enthusiasts to see if they can be, as he put it, “a wild card resource.”

The board of supervisors tabled the repair and will revisit the topic during next week’s meeting on Wednesday, April 15. If approved, the siren will be installed within two to four weeks after it’s ordered.

“I’m probably for it, but I want to at least pursue all of our other opportunities to get paid for before we put that burden on our taxpayers, and that’s where I’m at,” Hopkins said.

“I’m just saying, I want to be careful and I want to think it through and I don’t want to make a rash, quick decision,” Friday said.

“Let’s give it a week where we can reach out and see,” Hopkins said.