Palatine may pull plug on Homeland Security grant

It's not often that a municipality would turn down a federal grant, but that's the possibility Palatine faces.

The village council voted this week to refuse six electrical generators, each powerful enough to run a nursing home or similar facility, unless the Illinois Law Enforcement Alarm System modifies requirements that Palatine officials say place too big a burden on the village.

“The way it's written right now ... I just feel we're taking on liability we don't need to take on for something we don't absolutely need for the essentials of our government,” Palatine Village Manager Reid Ottesen said.

Funded by the Department of Homeland Security and made available through the Illinois Terrorism Task Force, the grant aims to position generators in strategic locations throughout the state for use in the event of an emergency.

Hoffman Estates, Aurora and Lake County also applied for the grant and were among the 10 chosen sites.

Palatine would store the 10-foot-tall, 1½-ton generators behind a security fence at the Sterling Street water tower.

Even though the municipalities house the generators and assume maintenance costs in 2012, the state has the first right to use them should a disaster occur. That arrangement could leave Palatine scrambling for equipment to power events like its annual Street Fest if the state requires the generators.

Officials find other language in the agreement problematic, as well.

For instance, one provision calls for generator recipients to start complying with certain federal environmental acts. Another would require the village to change language in its collective bargaining agreements related to promoting a drug-free workplace. There's also no termination clause.

“It wasn't until the fine print came that we started to see all these other stipulations,” said Ottesen, who noted Palatine already has several portable generators.

Palatine Emergency Management Coordinator Tom Smith, who applied for the grant, said he believes a boilerplate agreement was used. He spoke with the grant agency's attorney, who seemed receptive to changing some language.

With the village set to receive the generators on Dec. 31, officials will have to either renegotiate quickly or ask for an extension.