EMA highlights AEP-supported special operations unit; dispatch and highway give routine reports

Department heads reported routine operational updates during the Jan. 5 Grant County commissioners meeting.

EMA Director Bob Jackson thanked American Electric Power and introduced Rob Kiesling (AEP external affairs) while outlining a special operations unit formed with EMA, EMS and the health department. Jackson said a donation from the AEP Foundation funded personal protective equipment, including powered air-purifying respirators (PAPRs), enabling a unit to respond to high-risk incidents and transport infectious patients without taking ambulances out of service. Jackson noted coordination with the District 6 Healthcare Coalition for mutual aid across 13 counties.

Public Safety Director Kevin Hicks provided dispatch staffing numbers (17 dispatchers, including trainees, plus five part-timers) and December 2025 call volumes: 2,385 911 calls and 9,284 total calls; he said year-end statistics for 2025 will be presented at the next meeting.

IT Director Marcus Elliott said new video systems for the courts and a new system in the jail are installed, and vendor work on Superior Court 2 is expected to finish immediately. Highway Superintendent David White described recent snow/ice removal, installation of a structure on County Road 900 West that will be classified as a bridge and inspected within 30 days, ongoing box-structure work pending fiber relocation, and plans to present Bridge 712 to NDOT for federal aid.

Commissioners asked a few clarifying questions and thanked staff for the reports.