ROSEBUD — The controversial proposal for apartment units on land near the See Tal Estates lake dam in Hermann has drawn the interest of Gasconade County’s emergency planner.

County Emergency Management Director Clyde Zelch voiced his concern during Wednesday morning’s monthly session of the Gasconade County Communications (911) Board of Directors. Zelch is one of the board’s seven members. He said he is concerned about a warning system being in place for residents and others near the site in the event of a breach of the earthen dam containing the subdivision’s large lake.

“We need to work on that,” Zelch said, noting that while he has talked with the See Tal residents opposing the proposed apartments, he has no position on the proposed development.

“I’m not trying to stop anything…because Hermann needs housing (units),” he said. “I’m just trying to get a warning system” identified for whatever development occurs on the land between the subdivision and Tractor Supply Company to the north, he added.

One possibility, the board members suggested, would be to install a warning siren to alert residents of the area, much as sirens are used in other parts of town to warn of approaching bad weather.

The See Tal residents calling themselves Citizens for Hermann, voiced their concerns to the Hermann Board of Aldermen about the proposed apartments. Flooding from a possible breach of the dam was one of several issues raised by the residents. But the argument raised about flooding was countered by the engineer working on the proposed development who said the apartment building being proposed would not be in the so-called “inundation zone” resulting from a break in the dam.

In other matters during the Communications board’s session, Executive Director Lisa Thacker noted that a contract has been approved by the Hermann Board of Aldermen for County Communications to provide part-time 911 dispatching for the city’s Police Department. The part-time proposal was one of four presented to the city by the county dispatching agency — two for part-time service and two for full-time dispatching services. The city chose a part-time proposal that will have County Communications dispatching police from 6 p.m. to 6 a.m. seven days a week at a cost of $18,000. The city will continue to have its own dispatchers for the other 12-hour period operating out of the city’s Dispatch Center in the Police Department.

The full-time proposals would have had County Communications providing all dispatching services around the clock for the city at a cost of $20,000 a year.

The city also will be paying an additional amount to County Communications for times when the city’s dispatchers are not available to work during their 12-hour shift. That cost will be $40 an hour and is estimated to total about $3,000 during the city’s fiscal year that begins July 1.