ERIN - Erin council is not ready to spend big on electric vehicle charging stations.
Last week, Erin council approved a new tender request for the purchase and installation of four level 2 charging stations for electric vehicles, two at Centre 2000 and the other two in McMillan Park.
According to the staff report, the charging stations will be placed at Centre 2000 and McMillan Park to let residents and visitors take advantage of the stations so they can go shopping, go downtown and allow sporting teams that come to the town to charge their cars while at the events.
In May 2021, council authorized staff to proceed with the electric vehicle charging station project for $25,000 to be funded from the volunteer water levy reserve.
However, based on the pricing the town had received from last year’s request for quote (RFQ), it was decided to defer the project until further research could be completed.
“Due to inflation and rising construction costs, we decided to defer the project until we found affordable costs,” explained Oliver Gob, town’s director of finance and treasurer at last week's meeting.
The estimated cost based on the 2021 RFQ was $51,940, and this does not include the cost of trenching from EV charger to facility; the cost only covers the purchase and installation of four Level 2 EV charging stations.
Town staff recommended the council to do another tender request to get the correct pricing of the charging stations.
Should the pricing from the RFQ be $60,000 or less, council wants town staff to proceed with the EV charger station project and purchase four level 2 charger stations.
