Trustees weigh generator upgrade after station power limits exposed

Police and fire leaders told trustees the fire station's generator cannot support added systems such as the police addition and communications equipment, and that the Village should consider a larger or differently fueled unit to maintain operations during extended outages. Police Chief Eric Hansell said the existing unit was installed before the police department was added and that restoring full functionality during a prolonged outage is currently not guaranteed.

Chief Hansell discussed options and logistics: "they had one bank of outlets on the North wall which is the south end of the fire department and the door codes so they could get in and out of the building," and noted natural gas service is available at the generator site, so the Village could pursue either diesel or natural gas depending on capacity and fuel-storage tradeoffs. President Richard Samples described the issue as long-standing: "this is something that is not new, they just got caught with it and did not pay attention to it." Trustees asked staff to return with cost estimates and potential funding sources before any procurement decision.