Board of control tables measure to bring 4 tornado sirens to city of Mansfield

The city of Mansfield has never had tornado sirens.

Last week, Mansfield City Council discussed the idea. It was also one of the topics at Tuesday's board of control meeting.

Members considered voting to add four sirens for Mansfield.

"We'd be partnering with the Richland County EMA," said Louis Andres, public works director. "The locations will be determined by EMA through an analysis to make sure we have the best coverage that we can."

The cost would be $142,194.51, which gave Mayor Jodie Perry pause. She thought the price tag might be high enough that the city would need to go through a bidding process. She recommended tabling the measure, which the board of control did.

Perry said county commissioners want to meet with city officials about a deal. The mayor said the city would pay to install the sirens, while the county would maintain them.

After the meeting, Perry said she thought it was unusual that Mansfield has never had tornado sirens.

"People have said that it's our topography," she said. "Sometimes storms split around us."

Safety Service Director Keith Porch said he doesn't know what went into the decision not to have any sirens.

The board of control also approved $65,050 in American Rescue Act Plan funds for exterior masonry maintenance, stone replacement and masonry maintenance for the Liberty Park bridge, which Andres described as "crumbling." He said the bridge will be restored.

Because the city is going forward with three projects, it will get a break on the estimated cost of $72,410.

Also at Liberty Park, the board of control approved $38,100 in ARPA funding for improvements to the bathhouse. Andres said those will include sandblasting the building, which has been around since 1937, and siding.

In another matter, the board of control approved $25,000 in revenue replacement ARPA funding for an electrification analysis.

"This is just a plan that will take a look at our infrastructure and do an audit," Andres said. "It will tell us what we need to do in order to electrify our buildings and also allow for EV charging stations."

Perry said the city is merely looking at its options.

"We're by no means going to change everything to electric, but we want to know what we can do," the mayor said.

The board of control also approved $34,084.40 for 14 tactical vests for SWAT members. Police Chief Jason Bammann said each vest would cost $2,500. Individual vests for patrol officers cost about $1,000 each, he said.

"These vests will withstand a little more threat," Bammann said.

He added the money has already been budgeted

"It's important work that they do for us, so we want to make sure that they're protected," Perry said.

In other business, the board of control:

• Approved the purchase of $200,000 in playground equipment for the Sterkel Community Park for All. After the meeting, parks Superintendent Mark Abrams said the second phase of the project should be finished in early November.
• Approved a change order of $112,296.57 for a culvert replacement project on Third Street.

"It ended up costing less than what was originally quoted," Perry said. "It's what they call a deduct. It's always better to have a deduct than to ask for more money."

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This article originally appeared on Mansfield News Journal: Board of control tables measure to bring 4 tornado sirens to city of Mansfield