Gotion had “good news” to share at the Manteno board meeting on January 5, reporting it resolved a list of fire and public safety concerns at its Manteno lithium battery plant.
A list of issues was raised in a November 19 “letter of concern” from the Manteno Community Fire Protection District’s Fire Chief Richard Petersen, which was later brought to the public’s attention when Mayor Annette LaMore read the letter aloud at the December 1 board meeting.
The fire district informed the Village of Manteno that, although Gotion had agreed to establish a fully trained and equipped industrial fire brigade at its plant at 333 S. Spruce Street, Manteno, it had not done so as of the date of the letter.
Additionally, the letter highlighted Gotion’s failure to create an Emergency Action Plan (EAP) and to have sprinkler holding tanks inspected and reports submitted to the fire district. A bidirectional amplifier (BDA) system was neither verified nor tested; it is a communications system for emergency responders.
The fire district’s letter also said Gotion failed to acknowledge a Station 3 Partnership proposal, as they had “not indicated acceptance or proposed any viable alternative.”
If the issues were to be left unsatisfied, Petersen’s letter said the district could not support certificates of occupancy and would even go so far as to request a tax abatement review.
A copy of the letter also was sent to Gotion’s Mark Kruesel.
“This is about the safety of our town. This is very, very important,” LaMore said at the December 1 meeting.
Gotion took notice, as Gotion’s PR spokesman, Andrew Wheeler, addressed the board on January 5, detailing what the company has done to resolve the issues.
“Gotion Illinois has been working closely with the village and Manteno Fire Protection District, and I’m pleased to report we have resolutions on all the outstanding items regarding fire safety at the plant,” Wheeler said at the board meeting.
A progress meeting among representatives from the village, Gotion, B&F Code Services, the fire district, and KanComm was held January 8, with a final inspection set for January 13.
Representatives from the fire district were not present at the January 5 board meeting, which was not unusual, as the fire district’s board meeting is held at the same time as the village board meeting.
In a phone call following the January 8 meeting about Gotion, Fire Chief Richard Petersen said, “it’s a work in progress,” and agreed with the synopsis Wheeler provided.
At the board meeting, Wheeler advised the fire brigade was satisfied with “experienced firefighters and a fire marshal,” though Wheeler didn’t go into further detail at the meeting about how large the fire brigade was, or how or where it would operate.
The Station 3 proposal was an option in lieu of Gotion establishing its own fire brigade and remains an option for the future.
“They are working toward getting everything accomplished that we’ve asked for,” Petersen said.
Wheeler said Gotion purchased a “certified fire truck” for the plant, which can be used both inside and outside the plant in an emergency. He noted the company has “more than a million dollars invested in ancillary fire protection equipment.”
“For example, the industrial fire brigade, you can’t create that overnight. You have to buy apparatus, you have to get equipment and train employees. As of last night, they have hired four, so including the one they hired in November they have a staffing of five. What we’re looking at moving forward is a staffing of six, 24 hours a day, seven days a week,” Petersen explained.
Petersen acknowledged it will take time, and firefighters will need to be trained and certified, meeting the same requirements as the Manteno Community Fire Protection District’s firefighters. However, Gotion is taking the right steps to address their requests, Petersen explained.
The brigade will start off with eight-hour shifts and progress to 24-hour shifts at the plant once fully established.
Additionally, Wheeler said the EAP was created and fully approved by all parties, including a village expert consultant and the B&F Code Services, and affirmed it would be updated with the other parties as needed as a living document.
“The EAP, as Andy indicated, was approved by B&F and meets the minimum standards needed for the permit. With that said, it’s a dynamic document in that as they build out the facility, the document will need to continue to be monitored and updated,” Petersen said, stating it would continue to be updated for the life of the facility.
The sprinkler holding tanks have been installed but are pending approval because the tanks need to be drained to be inspected, which is weather-dependent.
Wheeler also affirmed the BDA system is in place and functional but acknowledged an issue with the nearby Verizon tower, which is a countywide issue for KanComm, the county’s emergency communications center that handles 911 calls. Wheeler said they told him they didn’t believe it would be an issue for the upcoming inspection, and Petersen agreed.
Before concluding, Wheeler vowed to be “more proactive on the communication side to make sure we’re meeting and rising to the expectations of all parties.”
The comment irked Gotion opponents, with Manteno resident Ann Gates questioning where the transparency had been over the past two years during public comments.
Several residents spoke about Gotion, with some questioning the company’s employee demographic data and others expressing ongoing concerns about the plant, including environmental impacts.
“From Monday night’s meeting, one of the trustees had inquired about how we hold them accountable moving forward, and that’s something in the works currently,” Petersen explained.
Overall, Gotion is meeting the code requirements, and Petersen didn’t foresee any issues with the January 13 inspection.
Outside of the Gotion talk, there wasn’t a whole lot of business on the agenda. The village continued work transferring a parcel of unusable land along an alleyway to residents.
The board approved bills totaling $247,506.10, including a TIF payment, and authorized bills totaling $481,456.66, including a $2,200.00 TIF payment, to be paid between board cycles.
Trustee Mike Barry noted, “Our bigger bills this cycle were insurance for the village and also workers’ compensation was a larger bill.”