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KIRKSVILLE, MO. -- The water tower on the north side of Kirksville is fine structurally after a tornado hit it May 13th.

But the fence around it is gone, allowing anyone to just walk right up to it or even climb up.

Debris from the twister damaged the tower’s paint job. A fresh coat of paint will cost anywhere from $80,000 to $100,000.

But Kirksville officials hope FEMA will pay 75% of that cost. “I think they’ll pay the 75 percent. I’m optimistic they’ll find this an eligible reimbursement,” Public Works Director John Buckwalter said.

FEMA is scheduled to inspect the tower on Tuesday morning.

Another issue the city will have to deal with is storm sirens. The city’s system is old. Many people have complained when the sirens have randomly gone off without a reason.

City officials say the sirens are only meant to alert people outside. Television notices, radio alerts, and text messages are also sent out when dangerous weather is in the area.

New tornado sirens could cost almost $20,000 each. The city is considering buying sirens equally as old as their current ones from a town in Kansas for roughly $200.00 each.

City Manager Mari Macomber says the city simply doesn’t have enough money for new sirens. “We’ve been telling citizens we don’t have money to do a lot of things. We asked for money in this last election, but citizens felt that wasn’t necessary,” she said.

Macomber says one option could be buying one new siren each year. The council has not yet made any decisions.