Washington to install electric vehicle charging stations

The Washington City Council voted unanimously Tuesday night to accept bids for an electric vehicle charging station on the south side of the square, near the band shell.

The move comes after the city received a $15,000 Volkswagen settlement grant from the state for the infrastructure in 2021. City Clerk Sally Hart said that grant covered 90% of the cost, with the remainder paid by county hotel/motel tax funds at no charge to the city.

"It has the capacity to serve two vehicles at one time,“ she said. ”It’s kind of like a parking meter, so to speak. People can reserve the electric charge station online once it gets all set up and going … we think it will be a nice public amenity for people to use.“

Hart said the timeline for the station’s installment was uncertain.

“I hope to have it in by the end of the year,” she said. “It depends on supply and how quickly we can get the unit installed here.”

Hotel/motel Tax Committee Chair and City Council Member Millie Youngquist said the station was a perfect project for the county committee, which focuses on investments to boost the hotels and motels that fund it.

“By law, at least 50% of the Hotel/Motel tax revenues that we get have to go to support tourism,” she said. “We thought this was one way that we could draw people to the downtown area. Many people are getting electric cars, and once they find out there is a location here, they’ll need a place to plug in and charge it. Hopefully they’ll visit some of our stores and restaurants and establishments here. I know there’s some network this will be listed on so people can see where they are.”

Comments: Kalen.McCain@southeastiowaunion.com