During regular reports at the Sept. 3 committee meeting, Grundy County Emergency Management reported it had been awarded a $5,000 grant from Pembina Pipeline and described ongoing volunteer activity, while the ATSB update highlighted an accelerated debt payoff and staffing plans.

An EMA representative said the $5,000 Pembina Pipeline grant notification arrived the day before the meeting and that the award was not yet reflected in the printed report packet. The EMA report also noted volunteer activity supporting public events and fire prevention open houses, including traffic control duties the speaker said totaled more than 20 hours.

Separately, the ATSB representative reported that bonds taken out for a facility originally scheduled to be paid off in January 2028 will be paid off by January 2027 instead, which the speaker estimated will free approximately $300,000 per year previously earmarked for debt service. The ATSB speaker said the board plans to hire one or two positions in anticipation of retirements in dispatch and to provide an administrative assistant to relieve current staff workload. The transcript also records the promotion of Travis Johnson to supervisor effective Oct. 18.

The LEPC (Local Emergency Planning Committee) report noted a planned full-scale exercise by Pembina at the Aux Sable facility in November and referenced four incident notifications in September involving tank leaks (three in Morse, one in Manuka). The committee recorded those items in the meeting as informational reports; no formal committee actions were taken on the grant, debt schedule or staffing during the committee meeting.

Details not specified in the meeting include the ETA for grant disbursement, the precise use of the $5,000 grant funds, and formal board approval or budget entries reflecting the debt-service timetable changes.