SUNRISE BEACH, Mo. — A federal grant is helping the Village of Sunrise Beach pay for a new storm warning siren, and the city hopes to find funding for two more.
USDA Rural Development State Director Janie Dunning visited the Sunrise Beach City Hall on Wednesday, June 22 concerning an Economic Impact Initiative (EII) Grant of $7,000 presented to the Village of Sunrise Beach for the purchase of a storm warning siren.
The new siren was installed near the Hurricane Deck Bridge last summer, bringing the village’s total number of sirens to three. The second siren is located on Lake Road 5-34 and the third is by the water tower next to city hall. According to Village Trustee Charlie Bott, village leaders would like to install a minimum of two more sirens, one on Rock Harbor Road and the second on the south end of the village near the quarries lakeside.
Bott said the warning sirens are needed especially during the summer months when there are a lot of vacationers at the Lake who are not familiar with the area. “When a siren goes off, they need to check their local television station to find out what county the watches and warnings are being issued for, to see where the storm is headed,” Bott advised. The village plans to seek additional grant funding for the two additional sirens.
“Protecting lives and property is a part of Rural Development’s community development mission,” Dunning said. “Most people think community development means funding projects that construct facilities or creating jobs, which is true, but community development also includes providing resources for public safety efforts.”
According to Dunning, early warning is critical for saving lives in emergency conditions, and in rural areas, it’s even more critical due to the distance for first responders to travel. “The Village of Sunrise Beach’s warning siren is a great of example of what rural areas can do to expand their safety efforts,” she said.
With the help of Rural Development’s EII funding, the warning storm siren is currently in operation. EII grants are available to rural communities with a “not employed” rate of greater than 19.5 percent, to help develop essential community facilities.
Another goal of the EII program is to provide funding for rural first responder agencies. These funds have been used by rural communities to purchase, among other critical items, police cars, fire trucks, emergency rescue equipment, and communications devices.
Further information on additional programs is available by visiting the USDA Missouri Rural Development website at http://www.rd.usda.gov/mo. Interested parties may also contact the Clinton area office at (660) 885-5567 extension 4.
According to Dunning, USDA, through its Rural Development mission area, has an active portfolio of more than $212 billion in loans and loan guarantees. These programs are designed to improve the economic stability of rural communities, businesses, residents, farmers and ranchers and improve the quality of life in rural America.
