Joe McWilliams
Lakeside Leader

After hearing a report on the pros and cons of keeping the emergency siren, Slave Lake town council voted last week to get rid of it.

Installed in 2014, the siren was deemed a good idea in the wake of the 2011 wildfire disaster in Slave Lake. With a lot of provincial recovery money to spend, and a council strongly motivated to do everything possible to improve public safety, the siren was approved – first by the regional tri-council and then by town council. Like much of what was done in the ‘recovery’ line in those years, it seemed an important thing at the time.

However, as council heard, there have been problems with it.

For one thing, it was not designed to operate in cold temperatures. It requires about $1,500 in annual maintenance. It can’t be heard by everybody in town. And those who do hear it don’t necessarily know what it means.

The idea was that if the siren sounds (apart from its once-per-month, Thursday noon tests), people are supposed to check out the town’s website to find out what’s going on. But in the meantime, said acting CAO Garry Roth in his report to council, the Alberta Emergency Alert system has improved a lot. Its alerts once interrupted TV and radio broadcasts; now, they appear automatically on people’s cell phones. With that sort of coverage, continuing with the siren is of dubious value.

Agreed, said mayor Warman. Although $1,500 a year “doesn’t sound like a lot,” he added, “it doesn’t count staff time.” In his opinion that time could be better spent. “It’s probably a waste of time and resources.”

He got no argument from councillor Francesca Giroux.

“It causes more confusion than it does helpfulness,” she said, making the motion to decommission the siren.

Councillor Brandle asked if there was any possibility of selling the equipment once it’s taken down.

“Would it be worth anything to anybody else?”

I doubt it, said Roth.

Council also rescinded the emergency siren policy.