West Tisbury is already generating electricity with solar panels at the former landfill. Now selectmen are considering a charging station for electric cars in town.
Mark Lovewell

Selectmen Mull Electric Car Charging Station for West Tisbury

Some day soon, West Tisbury could be the next stop for people looking for a place to charge their electric cars.

For people looking for a place to charge their electric car, West Tisbury could be the next stop some day soon.

The town selectmen this week agreed to explore possible locations to install a charging station for electric cars. The idea was initiated by selectman Jeffrey (Skipper) Manter 3rd.

“There’s going to be more than fewer of them in the future,” said Mr. Manter, speaking of electric cars.

Selectman Richard Knabel, who drives an electric car, agreed that it was a good idea, and said the cost of the equipment for a 240 volt charging station is less than $1,000.

“We are getting net metering credits from the array at the dump,” Mr. Knabel said, referring to the town solar array at the landfill. “That is the most appropriate way to run an electric car, is to use solar energy,” he added.

Cronig’s Market in Vineyard Haven has solar-powered charge stations. The town hall, library, school, Howes House and public safety building were mentioned as possible locations for West Tisbury stations, although all have lot size limitations.

Mr. Knabel agreed to look into the possibilities and report back.

“It has been done, it can be done,” he said.

In other business at Wednesday’s meeting, selectmen voted to continue with a single tax rate. The rate will increase from $5.71 to $6.06 for both residential and commercial classes. Michael Colaneri, chairman of the board of assessors, advised the selectmen to consider the possibility of a residential exemption in the future.

The board also outlined responsibilities for the new town building and maintenance committee and approved $5,000 from a perpetual care fund to continue with a cemetery mapping project. The ongoing project involves digitizing the cemetery map.

The popular town holiday party will be held Dec. 10 from 5 to 8 p.m. at the Agricultural Hall.

Comments

Submitted by Anonymous (not verified) on Sat, 12/05/2015 - 07:29

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Susan Edgartown

A charging station at the library would be great, as there would be something to do while your car is charging!

Submitted by Anonymous (not verified) on Sat, 12/05/2015 - 11:47

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paul adler west tisbury

The problem is when any Town does anything it is so expensive, as they are required to go through a public bid process. I installed my own 220V charging system for $329. If a Town installed the same system it would cost them $2,200. Which is why our tax rates keep increasing. Spending is easy, anyone can do that. But making or saving money is obviously not any Town's goal.

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