A request to install a charging station for electric vehicles at Spallumcheen’s municipal office has ran out of juice.
The township had been asked by David Derbowka, electric vehicle owner and chief executive officer of Passive Remediation Systems, to consider installing a station at the municipal hall.
“We won’t be pursuing this because of costs and no funding available from the province or other sources,” said township chief administrative officer Corey Paiement.
A level one charger would cost about $60,000, though it would provide an 80 per cent charge in about 20 minutes.
A level two charger is between $4,000 and $8,000 but takes four-to-six hours to charge the vehicle.
The focus for installing any new charging stations, said Paiement, is filling in links along provincial highways.
“A charging station is being installed in Vernon,” he said.
There is already a charging station located at the Armstrong Co-Op.
Lobbying starts
The township is lobbying local governments around the region and, ultimately, the province, to join it in its bid to protect water sources.
Council unanimously approved a motion that will be forwarded to the Southern Interior Local Government Association (SILGA) for consideration at its annual convention April 19-22 in Kelowna.
The motion, put forward by Coun. Christine Fraser, calls for the Union of B.C. Municipalities (UBCM) to lobby the provincial government to require mandatory environmental farm plans, including soil testing, and that communities be allowed to limit uses in areas with sensitive, vulnerable aquifers and waterbodies.
The township has lent its support to the Steele Springs Water District and its Hullcar aquifer, which has been under a Do Not Drink advisory for nearly two years due to high nitrate levels, believed to be caused from manure from a neighbouring dairy farm.
If approved at SILGA, the motion will be forwarded to the UBCM for consideration in September.