EMERSON—Borough officials said an approximately $20,000 locally based lightning detection system would be installed on fields and parks within two months to help provide better lightning warning detection than the current system offers.
The current system, which Westwood, Washington Township and Emerson share, is based in Westwood, and the radar scans an approximately 7-mile radius from its home base.
That’s according to Mayor Danielle DiPaola, who said that at local baseball games last summer some residents were worried when Emerson’s lightning alarms did not activate but alarms were heard sounding on nearby golf courses and in Westwood.
“So we’ll be clued in the second within the radius the lightning is being detected,” she said. “It was always working but I think it’s just better off this way so that we know exactly when we need to get off our fields.”
She said, “Now when we have this ‘brain’ [radar system] in Emerson, the radius will be around our fields and our outdoor spaces.”
She said the new system will have a failsafe “so that we know that everyone is protected on our fields.”
The mayor thanked Police Capt. Mark Savino for his work in getting the new system.
Borough Administrator Rob Hermansen said once the system is in place it will be “more efficient and better to have the brains closer to home.”
Hermansen said the cost will be split between the borough and Emerson Public School District.
A problem with regional lightning detection occurred in spring/summer 2020 when contractors working on Westwood Regional Middle School deactivated the system and officials apparently were unaware of it.
Concerns were raised about public safety given that no lightning detection system was operational, plus the lack of public notice when the system was shut down.
While Washington Township was slow in notifying residents of the shutdown, as Mayor Peter Calamari said he believed the shutdown only affected a small area, Westwood notified its residents of the shutdown.
It was unclear whether Emerson notified its residents of the outage.
The Westwood lightning detection system was begun in 2013 and serves Westwood Regional School District, Westwood, Township of Washington, and until the new Emerson system comes online, the Emerson School District and Emerson.