MEDICAL LAKE – The City Council reviewed s proposal at last Tuesday’s meeting to install a dual port electric vehicle charger at the local library.
The proposal was presented by Amber Williams, the Strategic Project Manager at the Spokane County Library District. She said the initiative is part of an ongoing partnership with Avista, which began in 2021 and has already resulted in EV chargers being installed at five other libraries.
The project would see the installation of a dual port AC Level 2 charger in the library’s parking lot.
According to Williams, the charger will be free for public use, with all infrastructure, hardware and maintenance costs — totaling $15,000—covered by Avista.
The library — and therefore, taxpayers — would pay for the electricity, estimated at roughly $1 for two hours of active charging time.
Concluding the presentation, Williams explained that that the project is expected to take three to five weeks with minimal disruption to parking lot use.
“The Medical Lake library is actually city property, which is why I am asking for permission from you to make a contract with Avista,” Williams said.
Councilman Theodore Olson raised concerns.
“What about gas car vehicles and diesels; what you’re giving away is something only for EV owners,” he said.
“The library has been in the position of giving away commodities since its existence,” Williams responded. “The idea of a library is for shared resources for the community.”
She pointed out the library offers free computers, internet and printers to the public.
When asked why the library wasn’t charging people for charging their cars, Williams replied, “The amount of (money) we would charge people would charge people is that it costs more than what we would pay.”
“I think it’s great,” Councilman Lance Speirs said. “We don’t have any other free chargers in town.”
“I’m excited about it,” Mayor Terri Cooper noted.
Clare is an Eastern Washington University graduate and a reporter at Free Press Publishing.
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