Will Decorah's nightly siren tests be ending?

The practice of testing emergency sirens in Decorah every night at 6:00 might be ending.

New Decorah Police Chief Bill Nixon says the nightly tests are not needed.  Nixon told the Decorah City Council Monday night that once or twice a week would be sufficient to test the siren, especially after the city installs new radio frequency controlled sirens that can be automatically tested, instead of being set off manually, as the current sirens are.

City council members Steve Matter and Rachel Vagts were enthusiastic about a less frequent schedule of tests, but city council member Randy Schissel was not.  The city's Public Safety Committee, which Schissel chairs, will discuss the issue at its next meeting.