Berlin Township's old air-raid siren used to wail during emergencies, summoning volunteer firefighters from farms to the fire station.

The sound traveled about a mile and, for many years, the World War II-era relic provided sufficient warning for the quiet, rural community in Delaware County.

But the township gradually has outgrown the siren's reach. It isn't powerful enough to alert roughly 5,100 residents scattered in homes across 22 1/2 square miles, said Berlin Township Fire Chief Bill Bechstein.

"I've been here five years, and we've never used it for anything," Bechstein said.

He and other fire chiefs who respond daily to emergencies and disasters in fast-growing Delaware County support a modern, outdoor-siren system that would stretch border to border and equally warn all residents of danger.

Delaware County voters ultimately will decide whether they want to pay for the added safety measure. Two property-tax issues, a 0.4-mill levy to install the system and a 0.1-mill levy to maintain it, will appear on the Nov. 3 ballot.

The 0.4-mill levy would cost taxpayers about $12 per $100,000 of house value and raise about $2.5 million. The 0.1-mill levy would cost about $3 per $100,000 of house value and raise about $625,000. Both would be collected for one year.

If voters approve the levies, the county also will acquire sirens already operating in Delaware, the villages of Sunbury and Galena, and Scioto Township and integrate them into the system. Those communities would be reimbursed for the cost of their sirens, so residents would not be taxed again.

There's no statewide policy or standards for emergency sirens, so it's up to local government leaders to decide what's needed, said Tamara McBride, spokeswoman for the state Emergency Management Agency.

In Delaware County, the proposed warning-siren system would work along with an existing "Code Red" reverse-911-call system that notifies residents of tornado warnings or other potential disasters through an automated phone call.

The sirens are designed to reach people who are outside or away from home.

"The idea is to get people to go inside," said Brian Galligher, county Emergency Management Agency director. "We want to train everybody to do the same thing. Turn on the TV, radio, Internet to find out what's going on."

Reverse-911 calls are made based on where you live. So if you're away from home and a weather-alert is issued for the city you're in at the time, you won't be notified because the system registers your address, not your whereabouts, Galligher said.

"Each one of these systems has an upside and a downside," Galligher said.

A centrally controlled siren system would reduce the chance of miscommunication during emergencies, said Liberty Township Trustee Peggy Guzzo, who organized a political action committee called Outdoor Warning Levy Supporters.

"Residents, by and large, seem to be supportive, and some of them are shocked we don't have it," Guzzo said.

Lewis Center resident Theresa Rosen, 40, said she didn't have to worry about tornadoes until she moved from Maine to Ohio about a year ago.

As long as the tax isn't too high, she said, "I think I would definitely be for it."

Heather Wisneski, 30, of Lewis Center, said she lives close enough to the Franklin County border to hear neighboring cities' sirens. But even if she didn't live within earshot, she said, she probably wouldn't support the levies.

"If there's anything that's threatening, I'll watch the news," Wisneski said.

dwilson@dispatch.com