The Champaign City Council gave direction for revisions to the city’s emergency preparedness ordinance Tuesday.

The ordinance, which has not been revised since 1983, has been an issue of research since the events of Sept. 11.

The cities of Champaign and Urbana, Champaign County, and the University of Illinois have weighed in on necessary changes since that time.

The proposed revision will redefine “disaster” to include a broader range of possible occurrences. The plan would now allow officials to act under the emergency operations plan in the event of a tornado, earthquake, hurricane, water contamination and several other areas of threat to the public’s health and welfare, if declared an emergency by the mayor.

City staff was given direction by the council for the master plan. The plan includes the process for maintenance and replacement of existing signs and installation of new signs throughout the city.

Under the new plan, replacement of signs would occur on a cycle, with the city broken down into sections. Each section would receive a complete replacement of all signs every 15 years, with spot repairs and replacements when necessary.

The plan also proposes the installation of internally illuminated street name signs at a rate of three signs per year. The program would involve a $15,000 increase annually to the budget. Such signs have been installed at recent traffic signal replacements in the campus area, and Mayor Gerald Schweighart said he receives “lots of compliments” on the signs.