NAUGATUCK — Officials said no thank you to a state grant to install an electric vehicle charging station in the borough.
The Board of Mayor and Burgesses voted Oct. 7 against accepting the nearly $10,000 grant with only Mayor Robert Mezzo voting in favor of it.
The borough was approved for the grant in September. The funds would have paid for an electric vehicle charging station to be installed at the Naugatuck train station on Water Street. The borough would have been responsible for the electricity costs and the maintenance of the station for three years.
According to information from the Council of Governments of the Central Naugatuck Valley, the annual cost per charging a car can range from $258 to $3,580, depending on the make of the car.
Burgesses cited the cost of the electricity as their main reason for voting against accepting the grant.
“I understand the green thing and I think it would be a great thing to have, but the problem is the first three years it’s going to cost us money. It’s money we don’t have. It’s money we don’t have budgeted. … It’s a great thing, but this isn’t the right time,” Burgess Rocky Vitale said.
Burgess Alex Olbrys said he liked the concept, but agreed with Vitale that it was not the right time to install the charging stations.
“The budget keeps going to referendum. To add new spending to it is probably not really a good idea. And I don’t really like that we have to pay for three years. I think the state should allow us to charge so we are not subsidizing people charging their cars,” Olbrys said.
The board also raised concerns that installing the charging station at the train station would be a hindrance to someone interested in the buying the building on the property. The Naugatuck Economic Development Corporation is currently marketing the borough-owned building, which houses the NEDC and Naugatuck Historical Society museum.
Public Works Director James Stewart contended the charging station would be an attraction and bring people into Naugatuck.
“I agree you’re not servicing your local residents because if they have an electric car they can drive to the train station and they can drive home and not need to charge. You are servicing the people from different towns who will stop by, plug in, and then have to spend four hours walking around town, shopping and eating dinner, and move on,” Stewart said.
Mayor Robert Mezzo said although the grant would cost money now, having a charging station in the borough would be a benefit down the road.
“I do think we are making a very short-sighted decision in rejecting this. Particularly given that this is only going to become a greater need in the future. It’s right in our downtown, it’s green energy,” Mezzo said. “We’ve made investments in our downtown for the acquisition of properties in excessive of $2 million, not counting the amount of remediation funds we’ve received, and we’re not willing to spend $2,500 a year to have something that’s going to be in need in the future, which communities in Beacon Falls and Torrington have already accepted. I think years from now we’ll see this as a short-sighted choice.”
Beacon Falls accepted the grant last month and plans to have a charging station installed in the town by the middle of November.
Deputy Mayor Tamath Rossi said she believes the borough will be able to find grants in the future that will serve those driving electric cars and not put such a demand on the borough.
Mr Mayor, Beacon Falls voters as a whole have not approved the possible $3,000 per year that 1st Selectman Bielik has forced upon us. While your taxpayers are making their intentions known by rejecting your budget because they have that opportunity right now, we in Beacon Falls will cast that vote next spring and again in November letting our 1st Selectman know how disappointed we are with his over spending agenda.