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BELLEFONTE -- Numerous individuals from the public came to this week's Bellefonte Borough Council Meeting to give their opinion on an agenda item that caught many of them off guard.
The agenda item regarded the removal of electric vehicle (EV) Charging Stations in borough parking lots.
The first speaker, Joseph Griffin, lamented the cancellation of "Bellefonte Under the Lights," gave a brief history of the event and the history of electric utilities in the area. He spoke about how the internal combustion engine will be niche in a few decades.
"Why would council remove charging stations from our public parking lots? Do we hope to inconvenience the people who want to drive their EV in Bellefonte to shop or enjoy a meal?" asked Griffin.
He wasn't the only one to speak on this matter.
Nancy Perkins, of Bellefonte, also spoke about her surprise to see the item on the agenda.
"I'm just wondering why we would want to remove charging stations. It seems to be impractical since they're already installed. It will hurt downtown businesses, I think it’s an asset we can advertise if we do it properly. If you're not driving an EV now, you probably will be in the future, it doesn't make any sense to not embrace the change," said Perkins.
Stephanie Peters, Executive Director of the Bellefonte Intervalley Area Chamber of Commerce, said she received calls from business owners and members of the community regarding the issue.
"The general feeling today was if we remove these charging stations we're taking away an asset and we're taking away potential business and revenue back to the borough," said Peters.
Similarly, Dan Altars, representing the Citizens Climate Lobby, told council he spoke to someone at the Reynold's Mansion about the charging station located there. He said the charging station gets used weekly.
When it came to discussion of the agenda item, council member Kent Bernier was quick to defend the borough's choice to put it on the agenda.
"This item is on our (agenda) tonight not because we're not smart enough, but because we've talked about this for months and there’s good reason for this to be (here)," said Bernier.
Assistant Borough Manager Don Holderman explained why the removal of these stations was put on the agenda.
"At the last meeting, we brought up the alternative fuels tax. When we initially put these charging stations in, the borough didn't charge for electricity. New council came on, so we spent the last six, seven months trying to get these charging stations where the electricity is going to be paid for," Holderman said. "We just wanted to verify and make sure that this is what council wants. From here on out, the borough is basically in the business of providing electricity and submitting monthly reports to the Department of Revenue and sending money in for an alternative fuel tax. It was an asset, but now it’s going to be a little bit more work."
According to Bernier, when a charging station needs repairs it typically costs thousands of dollars from the borough's budget.
Holderman explained that a power surge blew four of the charging stations out, and once they were fixed they were damaged again by a second storm that swept through the area.
"I'm more concerned about the long term," said Holderman. "This alternative fuel tax is going to be additional work for staff. That's the only reason it's on the agenda."
Council President Doug Johnson noted the item was on the agenda to get the discussion going within council about the charging stations, and to let the public know the extra work that will be done to administer the fees for the stations.
Council member Deborah Cleeton brought up previous conversations regarding the amount of work staff would have to do, speaking about a specific form that needs to be filled out by staff members.
"I think the challenge is going to be finding the original benchmark in 2021 that we worked from. Once we have a benchmark number to work from for the charging stations that don't have their specific meters, filling in the form is not going to be that complicated," she said.
Council member Randy Brachbill moved to table the discussion for a future work session so that further discussion could take place. It was seconded by Shawna McKean.