In addition to approving a budget for the next fiscal year, Warren Fiscal Court took steps Friday to improve safety by authorizing the installation of an outdoor warning siren in the Anna community of north Warren County.

Mark Young, whose 5th District includes Anna, said the area’s residents currently do not have a siren to alert them to severe weather conditions and other emergencies, which is fairly common in more sparsely populated areas.

“Even in Warren County, we have spots that are not covered yet,” he said.

Young said the siren will be installed at the Mt. Pleasant Church of Christ, 10219 Ky. 185, which is one of three locations the Emergency Management Office has considered placing the siren.

Young said the county typically tries to put up one new outdoor siren a year with available funds, and appreciates that Anna will soon have one. According to the fiscal court meeting’s agenda, the siren will serve 548 residents.

Ronnie Pearson, Emergency Management’s director, said it will take about eight weeks for the siren to be built and delivered, followed by a few days for setup.

Pearson said the siren is meant to alert people to an emergency; anyone who hears the siren should consult local media to see what the issue is.

Fiscal court also approved the purchase of a drone for $2,699 that would enable more efficient search and rescue operations at night.

Emergency Management currently has two drones used to search areas quickly, neither of which can effectively be used at night when many rescue operations take place, Pearson said.

The new drone, a DJ1 Mavic 2 Enterprise Dual Drone from manufacturer Adorama, is equipped with flare technology that allows it to detect the heat signature of a person and beam that information to the computer or iPad that is controlling the drone, Pearson said, adding that it also has a night vision camera.

“At night, we can fly the drone within the confines of the (Federal Aviation Administration) rules and use it to search for people,” he said.

In another matter, fiscal court unanimously approved on second reading the county budget for the fiscal year beginning July 1. Third District Magistrate Tony Payne was absent.

The budget calls for about $44.025 million, a bit higher than the originally proposed budget of about $43.829 million. Warren County Treasurer Greg Burrell said the discrepancy is entirely due to a mistake in the original budget proposal.

The budget will have no impact on county tax rates.

Fiscal court also approved a measure allowing the Warren County Regional Jail to partner with a service called Pay My Jailer, which is expected to increase the amount of money the jail is able to collect from former inmates who still owe booking and/or per diem fees.

Warren County Jailer Stephen Harmon said the jail currently partners with Hillcrest Credit Agency to gather debt owed by former inmates but thinks more can be collected with Pay My Jailer, which mostly specializes in finding people and urging them to pay their debt.

“They’re not a credit collection agency, but they reach out and they’ll send out notices to these people and try to get them to pay. If they pay, then their debt is completed and they’re off the hook for the money,” he said.

If they don’t pay their debt at Pay My Jailer’s urging, Hillcrest would get involved, Harmon said.

“As much as we can maximize the fees that are due to the jail operation, we can decrease the amount of fiscal court assistance, which comes directly from tax money. General Fund money,” he said.

Pay My Jailer attaches its own fee to the money it collects on a jail’s behalf to be paid by the debtor, meaning the partnership does not cost Warren County any money, Harmon said.

“Once they get that first notice, they may go ‘Oh, OK, I owe this money. I’ll go ahead and pay it and be done,’ versus now it sits and sits, and then it just sits on someone’s credit,” he said.