January 14, 2013
01/15/13 With the spring like temperatures on Saturday many people were outside enjoying the weather. In the afternoon folks on the south side of Plymouth heard the new weather warning siren located at the Plymouth Speedway. There was only one problem, there was no severe weather and the siren kept going off for more than an hour. Eventually, calls to the Sheriff’s Department made it apparent that there was a problem. Although the Sheriff’s Department can activate the siren, it hadn’t.
Sheriff Tom Chamberlin said. “The electronic board malfunctioned. Emergency Radio Systems from Elkhart came down and removed the board.” He continued, “It will be in-active for a while.”
Center Township Trustee, Doug Kucera said he lives south of Plymouth and heard the siren and figured the company was out testing them. He eventually figured out something wasn’t right when it kept on going off.
Kucera said the process to purchase, install and wire the two warning sirens, one at the speedway and one in Inwood was quite an ordeal. In the fall of 2011 the Township Board approved the expenditure for two warning sirens. In March of 2012 the board again unanimously approved moving forward with the project using Rainy Day Funds. The poles and sirens were installed late this fall and then there was a wait to have the electric wired to them.
The Center Township Trustee is hopeful that the damaged equipment will be replaced within a short period of time and the sirens will be ready for a true test. Kucera said he would do his best to notify the media prior to the official testing of the sirens.