‘If it saves one life, it is worth it’: Bill passes for 7 new tornado sirens in Maury County
MAURY COUNTY, Tenn. (WKRN) — Parts of rural Maury County are getting their first tornado sirens after a violent tornado hit the area earlier this year.
However, not all Maury County commissioners agreed on the revised proposal.
With another tornado season starting soon in Middle Tennessee, some Maury County commissioners wanted to address community preparedness.
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In May, a EF3 tornodo tore through the county, resulting in the death a woman and leaving up to 12 people injured .
According to Jeff Hardy, the director of the Maury County Emergency Management Association (EMA), rural parts of the county currently do not have tornado sirens.
"We have gathering after gathering out at Yanahli, those are unprotected people," Hardy explained. "There is no quick or easy place for those people to seek shelter."
County commissioners originally considered buying three tornado sirens to distribute throughout parks and schools at a discounted price of $45,000 per siren, which was lowered from $55,000.
But in the commissioner meeting , District 2 Commissioner Eric Previti proposed adding four more sirens to the vote.
"I made the amendment to the motion to add more sirens because I believe that if we are going to spend county tax dollars to protect the citizens of Maury County, we need to include the other areas as well," Previti told News 2.
"If this measure right here saves one life, it is worth it," Previti added. "If we hadn't done it and we don't do it and a tornado hits and we lose somebody, that is a travesty."
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District 9 Commissioner Jerry Bridenbaugh agreed, explaining that his constituents felt excluded.
"I was talking to people about this, and they were asking, 'Why not us?'" Bridenbaugh said. However, while in favor of the original three sirens, some commissioners expressed concerns over the rush for four additional sirens since the discounted price would remain for the rest of the fiscal year due to a TIPS bidding process.
"I don't think we are in any kind of hurry to rush and get these things right now," expressed District 5 Commissioner Scott Sumners.
"In this room, we live in this fear of missing out on an opportunity, and this is another one of those perfect examples of that," District 8 Commissioner Gabe Howard said. "We are spending money like crazy here in Maury County, and I do not understand it. We came into this room tonight [planning to buy] three; somehow, we are up to [seven]. It's crazy! It's crazy, so I am not going to make my decision based on fear."
Howard voted against the bill but told News 2 that if it saves lives, it is worth the money.
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"A tornado siren is for, think of big parks and downtown areas," Howard explained. "Most of the folks that have passed through the tornados were in homes, and they would have heard these tornado sirens anyway. So that being said, if these tornado sirens do save one life, it is money well spent."
The revised bill passed with two commissioners against the proposal.
Currently, $350,000 in taxpayer dollars will fund tornado sirens in Yanahli, Chickasaw Trace, Maury County Park, Culleoka, Mount Pleasant, Hampshire, and Santa Fe.
Hardy said the sirens are anticipated to be established in the next thirty to sixty days.
