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Council charging ahead with clean technology

Electric vehicle station will be set up at mall

Powell River will soon be plugged into energy-efficient automotive technology with the installation of an electric vehicle charging station.

At a recent City of Powell River Council meeting, councillors considered a motion that calls for the preparation and execution of a chattel lease, with a five-year term and registered security interest with Powell River Town Centre Mall, to locate an electric vehicle charging station on the mall property.

Councillor Myrna Leishman outlined the city’s discussions regarding the location of charging stations in Powell River. In a report to the city’s sustainability steering committee, from April 2014, Leishman outlined that city staff had recommended a three-phase implementation approach.

The first phase would involve locating charging stations on private property, such as at the mall.

Leishman said there would be a consultative public process during the second phase that would involve establishing charging stations on city-owned property.

The third phase proposes development of incentive programs encouraging the location of charging stations as part of the approval process for multi-residential or mixed-use residential/commercial, strata-owned buildings and large commercial buildings.

Mayor Dave Formosa said there will be more of these electric vehicles in the future. “Visitors from out of town will want to know if they can charge their electric vehicles in an efficient manner,” he said. He added that one charging station would not be enough.

Thomas Knight, the city’s planning manager – community energy, said there are two charging stations on order and they are dual-port, which means they can charge two vehicles at once. He said the initial installation would be in areas that would benefit from being in close proximity to commercial areas such as Town Centre Mall, or secondly, along Marine Avenue.

“With respect to the possibility of the second unit, we were going to put it in a strata building, but there are difficulties in securing a lease agreement with a strata group, so we are now looking at putting it in close proximity in one of the city parking lots where we won’t need to be doing any lease agreements,” Knight said.

“One of the big advantages will be that the units will be on the national charging station so anyone with an app or going online will know that Powell River completes the loop for charging vehicles on the Sunshine Coast.”

Councillor Chris McNaughton said he had suggested previously and would suggest again that the city should ask BC Ferries to install a charging station on the ferry to Vancouver Island.

“You’re on it for an hour and 20 minutes coming over here,” he said. “I think it’s a great opportunity.”

Formosa referred that idea to the sustainability steering committee.

A written report from Carlos Felip, director of planning services, stated that council had authorized the expenditure of $18,000 for two electric vehicle charging stations, and the order has been placed. The funding will be covered through the Community Works Fund, which comes from the provincial gas tax.

In return for locating the charging station at the mall, the property owner is responsible for the installation and maintenance costs, and the cost to supply electricity to the charger. Annual payments to a centralized charging network to activate network cards, locate the charging station and provide 24-hour customer service will also be borne by the property owner.

The motion to enter into the lease with Town Centre Mall carried unanimously.