City’s tornado warning sirens outdated, need to be replaced

Philadelphia’s tornado warning sirens are outdated and need to be replaced, emergency officials told the Philadelphia Mayor and Board of Aldermen recently.

Fire Chief Pierce Clark told aldermen during the board’s May 18 meeting that one of the city’s three sirens is down and is in need of a $2,000 repair. All three sirens are outdated and need to be replaced, he said.

“The tornado sirens are very old and it’s costing the city a lot of money in maintenance,” Clark said. “Every time we turn around, we are having to work on them.”

The sirens were installed in 1992 and are nearly 30 years old. Clark said it would cost around $30,000 to replace one siren. However, he added it is getting hard to find parts and people who know how to work on the old sirens.

Alderman Jim Fulton suggested the city consider puting new sirens in each of the city’s four wards.

Aldermen voted to have the siren repaired. It is located on the west side of town. They will consider what to do about replacing the other sirens at a later meeting.

In other matters, aldermen voted to:

• Approve the minutes from the past meeting and the claims docket;

• Approve the payment of $13,062 to Waggoner Engineering for work on the Booker T. Washington gym renovation project;

• Approve $175 to sponsor an ad for Landry Payne in the upcoming Miss Hospitality program; and,

• Approve a road bore by C-Spire west of Posey Avenue along Highway 19.

The mayor reported that the city had received four bids for a grass-cutting contract for the median of Highway 16 from McDonald’s to the city limits. That would also include picking up litter. Aldermen will vote on the matter during their June 1 meeting.