Emergency siren system still awaits city's approval
Amanda Bauer
Issue date: 10/11/07 Section: Metro
Emergency alert sirens could be installed on campus by the end of the semester, if the City Council passes legislation approving them. Ward 1 City Councilman Seth Yurdin introduced an ordinance last month that would lay the groundwork for such a system to be established. The legislation was referred to the Ordinance Committee.
Yurdin said legislators will address the ordinance after the University contacts relevant neighborhood groups about the sirens. "Once the University comes in with information about how it has talked to the community it will move along," Yurdin said.
Vice President of Administration and Chief Risk Officer Walter Hunter said there will be an Ordinance Committee meeting at the end of the month to review the draft ordinance that has been proposed.
The emergency siren system will only be set off in the case of a hostile intruder, a large chemical release near campus or a natural disaster, according to the Brown Environmental Health and Safety Web site. If the sirens are ever activated, they will be used in conjunction with an emergency notification system that will use cell phone and landline calls, text messages and e-mails to give people further instruction, Hunter said."The siren is just to have people seek shelter and get additional information," he said.
University administrators are attempting to coordinate the system with the city of Providence so that non-student residents of College Hill will also be notified in an emergency. "The city has a reverse 911 system, so the city can send out a message to residents about the nature of the emergency," Hunter said. "Residents will be called, so if they hear the siren, they can go on our Web site and see what the alert is about."
When asked for comment on the proposed alert system, Fox Point Neighborhood Association President Daisy Schnepel said, "We don't have any neighborhood reaction as yet" because they have not yet spoken with a University representative about the sirens. The FPNA board and Darrell Brown, the University's director for state and community relations, will meet Oct. 24.
Yurdin said legislators will address the ordinance after the University contacts relevant neighborhood groups about the sirens. "Once the University comes in with information about how it has talked to the community it will move along," Yurdin said.
Vice President of Administration and Chief Risk Officer Walter Hunter said there will be an Ordinance Committee meeting at the end of the month to review the draft ordinance that has been proposed.
The emergency siren system will only be set off in the case of a hostile intruder, a large chemical release near campus or a natural disaster, according to the Brown Environmental Health and Safety Web site. If the sirens are ever activated, they will be used in conjunction with an emergency notification system that will use cell phone and landline calls, text messages and e-mails to give people further instruction, Hunter said."The siren is just to have people seek shelter and get additional information," he said.
University administrators are attempting to coordinate the system with the city of Providence so that non-student residents of College Hill will also be notified in an emergency. "The city has a reverse 911 system, so the city can send out a message to residents about the nature of the emergency," Hunter said. "Residents will be called, so if they hear the siren, they can go on our Web site and see what the alert is about."
When asked for comment on the proposed alert system, Fox Point Neighborhood Association President Daisy Schnepel said, "We don't have any neighborhood reaction as yet" because they have not yet spoken with a University representative about the sirens. The FPNA board and Darrell Brown, the University's director for state and community relations, will meet Oct. 24.