Taylorsville has new tornado warning siren

A three-year project to install an outdoor emergency warning siren for German Township has been completed.

The siren, installed in the central district of Taylorsville, was successfully tested in July, German Township Trustee Chris West said.

“This mass notification siren will save lives,” said William Tapscott of Taylorsville CrimeWatch, one of several individuals and groups that made the warning system a reality.

Although Taylorsville itself is a unincorporated community of slightly more than 900 residents, the Taylorsville area also includes densely populated and adjoining subdivisions, said Bartholomew County commissioners chairman Larry Kleinhenz.

Some of those neighborhoods include Heritage Heights, Colony Park and Harvest Meadows, he said.

When all nearby housing additions are combined, there are about 6,500 people residing in the Taylorsville area — including many living in mobile homes that are especially susceptible to tornado damage, Kleinhenz said.

The Bartholomew County commissioners issued what Kleinhenz called a challenge grant to German Township officials.

The commissioners were willing to provide $10,000 for the siren system from their telecommunications fund if other organizations were able to raise the remainder of the $25,000 cost, Kleinhenz said.

After raising what money they could through conventional means, the township finally took out a loan to finance the balance, West said.

Both the principal and interest on this loan, which included some funds for township building renovations, was paid off in a year, West said.

When the siren test was completed on July 5, it had an effective range of about 1.5 miles, West said. That has left concern that there are still too many people who won’t receive adequate emergency warnings, he said.

“This really is a German Township project, not just Taylorsville,” West said.

For that reason, funding opportunities are now being explored to add additional sirens, the trustee said.

Both past and present emergency management officials, as well as elected county officeholders, deserve credit for the work they’ve put into the project over the years, Tapscott said.

However, Kleinhenz said no one put more work into spearheading the effort than Tapscott and West.

Another organization instrumental in the project was Duke Energy, which donated not only the utility pole for the siren, but also provided the labor and equipment necessary to get the pole installed, West said.