The residents of Medora may soon have a siren in place to warn them of an approaching tornado thanks to some help from the city of Seymour — and others.
Seymour Fire Chief Brad Lucas recently discussed the issue with the city board of public works and safety during its meeting at city hall.
Lucas told the board that a couple of years ago, a decision was made to add two new sirens to the city’s arsenal.
“We did that,” he said. “One was added at Freeman Field, but it was struck by lighting, so it’s in the process of being replaced. In the meantime, an older siren needs to be moved because of the Burkart Boulevard project.”
That siren has been taken down and still works, Lucas said.
“We are going to get a bigger one to replace that one,” he said.
That makes the older siren excess inventory.
“So Medora is really needing a siren,” Lucas said. “They have none.”
Lucas said after talking with Medora Town Marshal Jeff Walters, he thought it would be a good idea if the city would donate that excess siren to the town.
He said the paperwork to declare that siren excess inventory just needed the board’s approval to complete the donation.
“I will get that to Jeff (Walters), and he can transport that down there,” Lucas said.
He said the town would be responsible for installing the siren and making it operational.
Mayor Matt Nicholson made the motion to approve the donation, which was approved on a 3-0 vote.
“I also want to thank you,” he told Lucas. “You were in a 911 meeting, I think, when that conversation was started. I think it’s great that we can help our neighbors.”
Walters said on Wednesday morning that he brought up the need for a tornado siren with the town council after a cluster of three tornadoes swept through the Bowling Green, Kentucky, area and other nearby areas in the early hours of Dec. 11, 2021.
“I thought immediately about the town of Medora,” he said. “The town has never had a tornado siren.”
Walters discussed the idea earlier this year with the town council, which told him to take the lead on finding one.
Attempts to obtain grant funding for the purchase, however, didn’t work out, he said.
Walters said he later talked with Roger Bane, superintendent of Medora Community School Corp., and the school provided the spot for the siren near the building used by the FFA chapter across George Street from the school. The school corporation also is providing electrical service for the siren.
Walters said George Berry with Jackson County REMC recently set the pole for the siren, and Duane Davis, director of Jackson County Emergency Management Agency, has agreed to help with paying the cost of installing the siren and getting it operational. Electronic Communications Systems of Bloomington will be doing that work.