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Council approves first electric vehicle charger for downtown Orangeville

April 13, 2018   ·   0 Comments

Written By JASEN OBERMEYER

After having seen the matter brought forward and discussed at several council meetings, Orangeville council has approved the purchase and installation of a level-2 electric vehicle charger in a downtown parking lot. The dual charging station will be installed in the parking lot at 86 Broadway, beside Mortgage Architects, potentially by the end of June. The fee the town will charge is per kilowatt hour of consumption, though council still has to approve a rate. “I’m supportive of what we’re doing here, but I do think that we need to look at the bigger picture,” said Councillor Sylvia Bradley, who suggested staff look into potential grants, or the possibility of it being a new business for someone to get involved in. Councillor Donn Kidd said that not all car companies are marketing electric cars. “I think we’re ahead of the curb, I think that the Esso’s and the Petro Canada’s and all that, when they see a need for chargers, they’re going to have chargers on their lots.” Mayor Jeremy Williams said they should rather install a level-3 charger, given how one can drive longer, and said that it would add value to the town’s economy. “If we want to do something meaningful, if we want to do something that is really going to encourage people to come here, we need to bite the bullet and get a level 3 charger.” Councillor Scott Wilson agreed, and added they should look into funding programs offered by the provincial government. “If we’re going to do this, let’s do this right.” Councillor Nick Garisto added that while someone waits for the car to charge, they could shop in town, further driving the local economy. Deputy Mayor Warren Maycock agreed with the original recommendation to accept the level-2 charger. “At this particular time, there’s very little investment for the town to make this happen, and maybe in a year, maybe in two years this is going to take right off and we’re going to want level 3 chargers, but for right now, we can get this up and going, we can see what’s happening, and then based on that decide what to do.” Council approved the installation of the charging station, and also agreed with Councillor Wilson’s motion to investigate funding opportunities for a level-3 station, with Councillor Kidd objecting to both.

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