City Council bristles over storm shelter

Sigourney, Iowa- Sigourney government officials again tackled a request from the RAGBRAI committee at their June 20 meeting, this time for a storm shelter facility. A request from the Sigourney RAGBRAI committee was made of the city that the Sigourney Pool Bathhouse be designated as a storm shelter in the event of inclement weather during this year’s overnight stay. County Attorney John Schroeder, who sits on the Public Safety subcommittee for RAGBRAI, said that the committee has been tasked with finding enough public storm shelters for nearly 22,000 people.

 

“We have managed to secure… 20 different sites. We estimate the population that all of those sites would accommodate to be 22,250 people, which amazes me,” Schroeder said.

 

Schroeder added that there were several larger facilities, such as the High School and Elementary School, that have been designated as shelters and will be able to accommodate thousands of riders in Sigourney for RAGBRAI. Schroeder added that it was important that the bathhouse be designated as a shelter because it is the only building near the campground that will be in that area that can be a storm shelter.

 

“Otherwise they’re going to have to track from there downtown to the courthouse and the other places that we have secured in the downtown area,” Schroeder said. 

 

Mayor Doug Glandon expressed concerns that the storm shelter could actually be a safety issue, due to the close proximity of the building to the pool. 

 

For more on this story and others, catch the June 27 edition of the News-Review.

“My concern is that we have severe weather impending, you vacate the premises. Number one thing is you have a huge body of water that attracts lightning. You have aluminum ladders, chairs, diving boards that attracts lightning. You have chain link fence that goes around the perimeter that terminates at the building. All lightning prone things and you’re herding people into hit,” Glandon said.

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