Roselle poised to add storm sirens

Roselle is about to follow the lead of many neighboring communities by installing a severe weather warning system.

Spurred by residents and concerns about severe storms that have swept through DuPage County, village officials plan to invest in the same types of outdoor warning sirens that long have been in place in Bloomingdale, Itasca, Schaumburg, Hanover Park, Glendale Heights, Elk Grove Village and Addison.

The village board gave the idea a tentative nod Monday and likely will vote on it next month.

"There are 24,000 reasons to do this," Trustee Barbara Hochstadt said, referring to Roselle's population.

Resident Lisa Basso has lobbied the village board to install the sirens and collected more than 190 signatures in support of her quest.

"I want to thank you for supporting this," she told the board.

But officials warn that not everybody will hear the outdoor sirens during an emergency.

"You're not necessarily going to hear the siren in your house," Mayor Gayle Smolinski said.

Frank Kehoe, owner of Fulton Technologies, wants to install the sirens. He said the village would need only two of the devices, which cost roughly $16,000 each.

Possible locations for the sirens include the Metra station, Manary Park, Lake Park High School West Campus, Clauss Recreation Center or the public works facility at Congress Circle and Central Avenue.

The village board also briefly discussed the possibility of installing lightning detectors near public gathering places. The village wants to look into entering intergovernmental agreements with Roselle's school and park districts for such a project.