Village leaders ponder car-charging stations

SAUGERTIES, N.Y. » The village will review the use of a town-owned electric vehicle charging station being installed at the Kiwanis Ice Arena before deciding whether one or more should be located closer to village businesses.

The Town Board in August 2017 approved a $7,498 contract with Kansas-based LilyPad EV to install the charging station at the Kiwanis Ice Arena. A state Department of Environmental Conservation grant is covering 75 percent of the cost.

The charging station, which is nearly ready to be used, is nearly a mile from Main Street in the village.

“I don’t really see where that’s beneficial to us in the village,” Trustee Don Hackett said at a village Board meeting this week. “... I definitely think we need one, two or three here in the village.”

Village Special Assignment Coordinator Alex Wade said there are locations in the village that have been considered for a charging station.

“There’s potential for putting one in at the library,” he said. “Right now the library is not eligible for these grants, and they’ve made a request to the governor’s office ... to have the library made eligible. It would be kind of an ideal place if someone was going to come and shop in the village.”

Village Board members appeared conflicted, though, about whether to take on the responsibility of a siting a new station or having the matter handled by commercial property owners.

“I think it’s more of a business advantage for the [Chamber of Commerce] than it is for the taxpayer,” Trustee Terry Parisian said. “So it should really be a chamber function since it’s going to benefit the business district, not the village [of] Saugerties residents that are paying the taxes.”