From: Jacob Patterson
To: City Clerk
Subject: Public Comment -- 7/10/23 CC Mtg., Item No. 5C, EV chargers at PD Date: Saturday, July 08, 2023 2:09:05 PM
City Council,
I am excited for these level 3 chargers to be installed at the PD and am happy to see another grant available to help defray our local costs for this important infrastructure. That said, I would like to draw your attention to the following language in the funding documents included in this agenda item (emphasis added):
EV Drivers’ Right to Access: Customer shall not restrict access to or use of the EVSE for reasons including, but not limited to, race, color, religion, age, sex, national origin, ancestry, physical or mental disability, or any basis prohibited by applicable law.
However, Customer may decide to make the EVSE available only to its employees, tenants, or lessors; under the terms of the EV Fleet Program, Customer decides whether to make the EVSE available to other 3rd parties.
Numerous people from the Grassroots Institute and other local community members have been advocating for additional EV charging stations around town. These very fast Level 3 chargers are much more efficient and quick compared to the Level 1 and Level 2 chargers that are more common. As a result, I encourage the City Council to direct staff to be sure that the EV charging stations that will be installed as part of this project be made available for public use as well as for the City's fleet.
Obviously, our PD vehicles should always get priority and at least one charger should be reserved exclusively for City use but I encourage the Council to make the other chargers available for all to use. That might necessitate making sure the chargers include a way for people to pay for their charge (or not, I don't mind not charging for modest electricity use for EVs) like the existing chargers by City Hall but I think it is important to consider making the policy decision to allow for public use of these Level 3 chargers. In fact, the intended locations in the PD lot are already in an area open to the public.
Regards,
--Jacob