“We want our whole township covered and plan to apply for more grants,” German Twp. Trustee President Charlie Metzger said.
The two other sirens in the township are in Lawrenceville and Tremont City, and officials hope to receive additional grants to install two more: one near a shopping mall and another on Shrine Road, he said.
Metzger said the tornado sirens cost about $20,000 each to install, and the township will pay the remaining expenses for the sirens.
New Carlisle has one siren, but Springfield and most of Clark County don’t have any sirens.
Springfield had tornado sirens, but they were disconnected decades ago after malfunctioning, according to a News-Sun report in May.
Officials considered repairing them about 10 years ago, but they were not salvageable, City Manager Jim Bodenmiller has said.
Bodenmiller has also said he isn’t convinced the sirens are effective.
Metzger disagrees.
“We live in a farming community and have kids on playgrounds and mobile homes and in our opinion they help,” Metzger said. “I don’t understand why any political entity would ever turn (these grants) down. If it can save one life it’s worth it.”
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