DeWitt County has once again taken up the discussion of emergency sirens that are set to be decommissioned by Constellation Clean Energy. 

For the last three years, the County has discussed the topic of taking over emergency sirens that are currently owned by Constellation, and are set to be taken down in 2027. At Thursday Night's Public Safety Committee Meeting, Emergency Management Agency Coordinator Will Paveleck updated the members on a meeting he recently had with the power plant. 

Paveleck reviewed some of the numbers for replacing the sirens that would be taken down, and what the yearly cost would be to the County for maintenance, as they would become responsible for upkeep of them. 

The Committee's previous understanding was that if they were to take on the sirens, the poles would be left intact for the County to utilize; however, Paveleck stated that after further communication with Constellation, this seems not to be the case, which led to confusion on why the power plant would spend the money to do so. 

The new emergency alert system for power plant emergencies will be via phone, similar to amber alerts or severe weather alerts. County Clerk Dee Dee Rentmeister pointed out that a previous Board voted no to taking over the sirens, and Buck Carter and John Werts pointed out some of the concerns regarding cell reception in rural areas of the County. 

With around a year and a half to make a decision, the Committee did not take any action on the agenda item and requested that Paveleck find out more about Constellation's plan to decommission the poles as well as the siren heads.