Gotion’s plan for fire protection and safety procedures came under fire on Monday in a Committee of the Whole meeting of the Manteno Board of Trustees.

The special meeting was called to answer questions brought by Manteno Fire Protection District Fire Chief Richard Petersen in a letter to the village and Gotion that he wrote on Nov. 19. The meeting was chaired by Trustee CJ Boudreau, with all trustees present, along with Mayor Annette LaMore.

Also in attendance were Gotion Illinois’ Mark Kreusel, vice president of manufacturing, Andy Wheeler, head of public relations, in addition to Sean Fellows, director of technical services, for B&F Construction Code Services in Elgin, and Michael Paige, a fire inspection specialist with B&F, which has been contracted by the village to make sure all fire and safety codes are met as required. Gotion is paying for those services.

Boudreau said Petersen was asked to attend, but the fire chief was not present at the meeting.

The main issues covered are the establishment of a fire brigade at the manufacturing plant at 333 S. Spruce St., an emergency action plan, sprinkler holding tank inspection reports and having the bi-directional amplified system in place.

Fellows explained the brigade is not required by the international fire code, but it’s something Gotion has agreed to establish. Kreusel said the lead fire marshal of the brigade is already on board and an additional four brigade members will be in place soon. All should be on board and trained by Feb. 1.

The emergency action plan has been submitted to B&F by Gotion and has been approved by B&F as well as the village.

“We presented and approved the latest revision,” Fellows said.

The emergency action plan, which went through several revisions, was approved on Monday. Fellows said the final revision was under review early this past week.

Trustee Michael Barry said it seemed odd that the plan was approved Monday after the issue was made public just this past week.

The sprinkler holding tank was already in place in the building before Gotion bought the facility and has been going through updates. Gotion said the inspection report by its vendor has been submitted to B&F for review. The deadline for final approval is April 28, 2026, and not Jan. 18.

The sprinkler holding tank is a backup system in case the water supplied to the facility runs out. The tank can hold 70,000 gallons of water.

“Unless we have a particular concern that it was not completed correctly, I would put it as a lower priority in terms of a life safety issue,” Fellows said.

The bi-directional amplified system has been tested and is operational, Kreusel said. The BDA system is for emergency responder radio communications.

Gotion is currently assembling mobile chargers used for EVs, and energy storage systems for commercial and industrial, and residential. It is not manufacturing lithium-ion batteries yet.

Kreusel said it’s Gotion’s goal to resolve all the issues before the expiration of the temporary occupancy permit on Jan. 18.

“I’ve done most of all the inspections, from the sprinkler to the fire alarms to the BDA,” Paige said. “They’ve done everything above and beyond what we’ve asked for. They’ve added hose stations to make it easier for the fire department to attack a fire in there. They made it easier for the fire department with access aisles, for the fire department to advance hose lines. If they needed to, they could even advance a fire truck in the building. … They’ve done everything they can to this point in phase one to make it easier for the fire department.”

The final portion of the meeting was for public participation, and several Manteno residents spoke out. It turned into a public referendum on the Gotion plant, and those who spoke blamed the previous mayoral administration and Gov. JB Pritzker for allowing Gotion to renovate the former Kmart distribution center into the manufacturing facility, among other issues not on the agenda.

As frustrations boiled over, many of the approximately 75 residents shouted out disapproval of what they heard. Boudreau asked residents several times to refrain from yelling or they would be asked to leave the room.

Trustee Todd Crockett felt everyone’s frustrations with the proceedings and asked Gotion to meet the deadlines.

“The concerns of the citizens are very much warranted as well as the board,” Crockett said. “You know that this is a hot-button topic. You’re dragging your feet, and you’re putting all of us in a bad situation. We’ve gone to bat for you several times. If it’s up to me, if it comes down to extending dates or doing any of that, I would not be in favor of that.

“I have personally put my neck out on the line for this company, and I will not continue to keep doing it. You have four items on this list that need to be completed. You’ve heard it from the citizens, you’ve heard it from the board. ... Please get this done expeditiously. Number one priority starting right now. Do not drag this out.”