A new alarm system for the City of Greenville during thunderstorm and tornado warnings was discussed at the regular meeting of the Greenville City Council Monday.

The present alarm, which is located at Greenville City Hall and at one time was used to call in volunteer firefighters, will be used to warn residents if there is severe weather in the area.

"We used it years ago to call in volunteer firemen, but in the last few years, we started new methods with beepers and pagers. The only time we sound the alarm now is for trick-or-treating, but we want to educate the public and start using the signal for a tornado or thunderstorm warning," said Mayor Dexter McLendon. "E-911 will receive the information through the weather bureau and then will be able to sound the alarm here. If this works, then we will add a system at the other fire department on the bypass. This will give us some way to alert people in the community about warnings."

In other news, the council also accepted the closing of the Community Development Block Grant for the Methodist Hill renovation project, and reported that 27 houses had been renovated.

The council also:

awarded bids for beaver control, concrete materials, asphalt materials, gasoline/diesel fuel and 28 items of surplus city property;

authorized applications for grants for the police and fire departments;

authorized the bids for new ambulance/firemedics vehicles;

authorized the termination of commercial Drivers Training Academy land lease and a refund for $675 for a business license and rental payments;

granted a 60-day extension on unsafe housing.