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Salisbury Council accepts $25,000 Duke Energy grant to buy four drones for fire department
Summary
The City Council voted to accept a $25,000 environmental grant from the Duke Energy Foundation and amend the 2024–25 budget to appropriate the funds for four drones that the fire and police departments will use for searches, inspections and public-safety operations.
Salisbury City Council on Jan. 21 voted to accept a $25,000 environmental grant from the Duke Energy Foundation and adopt a budget ordinance amendment to appropriate the money for four drones to be used by the fire department and in coordination with police.
The money will be added to the fiscal year 2024–25 budget after a motion to adopt the amendment passed by voice vote. Fire Chief Bob Parnell told the council the departments had applied earlier and were notified this winter that the city had been named a grant recipient “for the purposes of buying 4 drones.” He said the departments plan to use drones for searches for lost people, for tasks that would otherwise place responders in dangerous situations, and for environmental inspections along rights-of-way and other areas.
Joe Crabster, Duke Energy government and community relations manager, praised the city–utility partnership and said the foundation’s grant followed the company’s disaster-recovery work: “For me personally, the partnership that I’ve seen in my year plus with Duke Energy with the city has been outstanding,” Crabster said. “We sincerely appreciate the partnership with the City of Salisbury.”
Council members did not request additional conditions or changes. No specific drone models, procurement schedule or department operating policies were presented at the meeting; Chief Parnell said the city had not yet purchased the equipment. He also asked the council to consider the grant appropriation that night so staff could move forward with procurement.
The action was approved by voice vote. The council’s vote record did not list individual tallies in the meeting minutes.
City staff will proceed with the budget amendment and procurement steps; the finance director and fire chief did not provide a firm delivery or training schedule for the drones at the meeting.
Ending: The council thanked Duke Energy and its foundation for the grant and concluded the item after the motion passed. Further operational details, including acquisition timeline and department policies for drone deployment, were not specified at the meeting.
