By STEPHEN SEITZ
CHESTER– The town of Chester is considering an electrical car charging station later in the year.
The item came up at a special selectmen’s meeting held March 15, the regular meeting having been postponed due to snow.
“We’ve been talking about redoing the parking space at Cobleigh [Field] now that the ice skating rink has moved over to Pinnacle, and making more parking for the rink,” Assistant Town Clerk Julie Hance told the board. “While we do that, one of the things we talked about was adding an electric vehicle charging station. The closest one to us is in Springfield. We would be looking to do a Level 2, which means you could charge your vehicle within a three to four hour period.”
Hance said in a later interview that the grant will be for about $20,000. The money will be provided by the Vermont Department of Housing and Community Development.
Selectman Lee Gustafson asked, “Is this something we could hire a local electrician to do and purchase the equipment from Green Mountain Electric?”
“I believe we can,” Hance replied. “Since it’s grant-funded, the chances are that we would have to go out to bid. The nice thing about Level 2 is that a local electrician can do what’s necessary.”
Hance described the project for the board.
“We’d need engineering to create the parking spaces,” she said, “and we’d have to have designated parking spaces for each charging station. The grant would pay for that, and the grant would also pay for the signage, and for the signage to draw people from the rink to the stations.”
Chairman Arne Jonyas asked if there would be a fee to use the charging station.
“So this doesn’t lock us into anything right now, you just need permission to apply,” he said. “Do we pay for it? Is it free, or do you need a credit card?”
Gustafson said he thought the service should be free. Hance told the board the cost to the town would be about $50 per month.
“My recommendation would be not to charge,” he said. “First of all, it’s not that expensive. The equipment needed to collect the money is way more expensive. If they’re parking their car for three or four hours, what are thy going to do? They’re going to shop. We’ll make that up in increased revenues for the town.”
“In Springfield, they do charge,” said town manager David Pisha. “You have to swipe a card. Springfield’s town manager told me that a lot of the towns he knew of charge, but that Brattleboro does not.”
Selectman Dan Cote saw an opportunity.
“Think of the marketing we can do with this,” he said. “We’ve got our own solar field out here generating the power providing it at no cost to the people who come into town.”
Hance said that if the grant is approved, the charging station would be installed during the summer.
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