The Chilton County Commission awarded $13,000 to fix severe weather sirens throughout the county on Monday.

County administrator Connie Powell addressed commissioners with two price quotes she found regarding her research of the sirens. Powell said one of the quotes for $6,800 would merely change the weather siren frequency and not fix the issue of the majority of sirens not working. The second quote of $13,000 would change the weather siren frequency and replace batteries in the 17 sirens (out of 26) that are currently not working.

The weather sirens were narrowbanded, but they are in need of changing frequencies on which they operate. The frequency change of being taken off the county firefighter frequency onto the Emergency Management Agency frequency is something that the $13,000 will cover as well as maintenance of the sirens that currently do not work.

The $13,000 will come from the Building Road and Bridge Fund.

The commission discussed the weather sirens during the April 29 work session and voted to let Powell research different options that could be more cost-effective and a stable reliable notification system for the county. Powell said she was still researching other counties in Alabama to find out what they do regarding emergency notifications but thought it would be a good idea to get the sirens working.

Commissioners Heedy Hayes, Bobby Agee, Allen Caton, Shannon Welch and Tim Mims voted in favor of the motion to fix the sirens with commissioner Joe Headley voting against the motion.