Grayson council considers car charging station
Aug. 18—GRAYSON — The Grayson City Council convened on Wednesday to conduct a first reading of the proposed budget for the upcoming year.
After all the department heads, council members and the mayor "crunched numbers," the budget for the 2023 fiscal year was balanced with a surplus of approximately $7,000.
During the meeting, however, Councilman Willis Johnson submitted previously unknown information concerning a raise in natural gas prices.
Given that the raise would drastically affect the budget, the council discussed eliminating further expenses, including a proposed raise for the mayor and the council. After discussion, the council determined what additional city expenses could be potentially eliminated and re-balanced the city budget.
The newest iteration of the budget was not voted on, and the council decided to wait until it could be updated formally and presented for review. Another special meeting is scheduled for Saturday at 9 a.m.
The other agenda item at Wednesday's special meeting was the proposal of an charging station for electric passenger vehicles and trucks. The proposed charging station was brought before the council by Johnson, who had spoken with the President of DC America, a West Virginia company with experience providing design services, manufactured products and construction services for EVC Charging solutions.
Company President Nathan Bowen had communicated that the federal government offers grants to cities to build these charging stations, with the eligibility being each station being 50 miles from a like station and having access to a major highway. Also, to qualify for government grants, the station in question must also be within 1 mile of said highway.
The mayor and council reviewed a proposal from DC America for the EV Charging Skid, which included a fee of $14,110 for grant writing that the city would be required to pay once the decision to move forward was made. Applying for the federal grant (of approximately $1 million) would not guarantee approval, but Bowen had communicated to the council through Johnson that the chances of approval were virtually 100%. He also communicated in the same manner that revenue generated would likely exceed $170,000 per year.
There was discussion of where the charging skid would be located to be most appealing for use. The charging skid would be a "quick charging" station and typically would require vehicles to be plugged in for between 20 to 30 minutes. Such stations could be considered a boon to local businesses, especially in the tourism industry, as individuals operating electric vehicles usually navigate by an app that lists available charging stations along the highway. Having Grayson listed on a national app would increase its desirability as a travel route.
The council and the mayor discussed viability and the possibilities of the charging skid, and received input from the Chamber of Commerce who recommended that the charging skid be located as near to downtown as possible so as to benefit local businesses.
No decision was made at Wednesday's meeting, however, and the mayor and council decided to hold a special called meeting in the near future for DC America to present more detailed information and answer potential questions.
(606) 326-2655 — cromans@dailyindependent.com
