Oceanport First Aid and Fire Departments Call for Extra Siren Blast

During the public portion of Thursday's borough council meeting, First Lieutenant Maggie Lippolis approached the microphone to inquire about the status of the town's siren system.

An executive order issued by Mayor Michael Mahon in 2010 curtailed the number of siren blasts in response to complaints about the noise from residents who live underneath the sirens.

Volunteer First Aid and Fire leadership are requesting a revision of the policy, which currently only allows for blasts during a weather or natural disaster emergency, reported active structure fire, or on the third First Aid call.

Response time could be delayed up to 12 to 15 minutes by waiting for the siren to sound on the third call, according to First Aid Squad President Joseph Lombardo in a letter he wrote Mahon earlier this month.

"With springtime coming and people outside, I'd really implore you to consider a third request with a tone and possibly go back to a first request with a tone," said Lippolis, underscoring the initial tone's importance in getting volunteers to the scene quickly in critical situations.

Council President Bertekap, who presided as acting mayor due to Mahon's absence, said he had spoken to a few people about it, and told Lippolis she had a valid point. He recommended she bring the issue back to the public safety committee for further discussion.

"I'm sure the council up here would all reconsider what you're talking about and look at some of the statistics and see what a difference it makes to have the first responders there rapidly," said Bertekap.

Lippolis noted Shrewsbury and Little Silver still use their siren systems all the time and asked the council to look at what their procedure is and get information from them.

"At this point, we're open-minded and we'd be open to discussion," replied Councilman William Johnson, "But let's not just demand that we turn the sirens on full-time. Let's see if we can work out some kind of agreement where it's beneficial to everybody."