NEW ULM ‒ Brown County Heartland Express got a step closer in the journey of securing electric buses Tuesday.

Brown County commissioners unanimously approved an electric bus grant update from Heartland Express Manager Patrick LaCourse.

Acceptance of the report came on a motion by Commissioner Brian Braun, seconded by Scott Windschitl.

“I came here to get your blessing,” said LaCourse. “We’re working on the grant application for two electric vehicles for Hermann Express. The grant will allow us to access funding for the buses, infrastructure improvement, chargers, staff training, EMTs and mechanics.”

He said an 80/20 or 90/10 funding matches are available.

“The State of Minnesota will hire a consultant for us to work through the process. There is also grant money available to install solar power in the building, if we want it,” said LaCourse.

He said the Elixur building that houses MRCI at 2100 North Broadway, would be a good place for electric buses.

“I don’t know how long it’ll take to find out how much grant money we’ll get yet,” said LaCourse.

He said the buses would work best on New Ulm (Hermann Express) routes at this time.

Commissioners unanimously approved Heartland Express donating an old bus to the New Ulm Fire Department for training purposes, motion by Commissioner Scott Windschitl, seconded by Jeff Veerkamp.

“I think it’s a great idea to use the old bus for training. I think there is good value in it for this,” said Windschitl.

LaCourse said he hopes other county fire departments can share in training including removing passengers in case of a crash.

“The bus is long past it’s useful life with lots of mechanical issues such as a bad oil leak, bad tires. We have used it for spare parts for our other transit vehicles. We don’t feel we would get much for it if we sold it. If we did sell it, we don’t think the purchaser would be very happy with the condition of the vehicle,” he said.