Selectmen Consider Electric Vehicle Incentive Program

At their Monday meeting, the Wilmington Board of Selectmen discussed the town's possible participation in an Electric Vehicle Incentive Program.

The program, administered by the Massachusetts Department of Environmental Protection, is a competitive grant program to provide financial incentive for municipalities to purchase electric vehicles and public charging stations. 

The grant would provide:

• $5,000 for the purchase of up to five plug-in hybrid vehicles ($5,000 each)
• $7,500 for the purchase of up to five full electric vehicles ($7,500 each)
• Up to $15,000 for the purchase and installation of a public charging station (if the municipality commits to purchasing at least one full electric vehicle)

Town Manager Jeff Hull informed the Selectmen that the town would not be moving forward with application for the EVIP at this time.

Hull said the cost for full electric and plug-in hybrids ranges from $30,000 to $38,000, nearly double the cost of an equivalent gas-powered sedan. 

"Recovering the additional cost for a hybrid plug-in vehicle over a comporable gas powered vehicle, based upon savings for fuel costs, would require nearly 22 years," Hull said. 

Town vehicles are not kept for that amount of time, according to Hull.

Also taken into consideration was the amount of time it takes for eletric plug-in vehicles to recharge, given the amount of travel town officials do, both around town and out of town for meetings and conferences, on a day-to-day basis.

"Since recharge stations are not prevalent, employees would need to be concenred as to whether their vehicle has ample charge to allow them to travel to their destination and back without recharging," Hull said. 

While the town will not move forward with an application to the EVIP, Hull said he would like to pursue other options to improve the fuel efficiency of town vehicles.

"My intention is to develop a capital improvement plan that includes acquisition of vehicles," Hull said. "One major consideration of that plan will be the approach to take to reduce fuel consumption. Over the next several months I will be working with staff to develop such a plan." 

Selectman Michael Champoux said while he agreed with the Town Manager's decision not to move forward with application to EVIP, he was disappointed that the town could not improve fuel efficiency with electric or hybrid vehicles.

"I was a little disappointed that the numbers came back the way that they did," Champoux said. "It is regrettable that it would take 22 years for us to get a payback on this investment."

More From the June 10 Selectmen Meeting

• Health Director Shelly Newhouse and Public Health Nurse Traci Mello gave a presentation to the Selectmen on the Cancer Awareness efforts of the Board of Health. According to Mello, the Board of Health will be educating youths in town throughout the summer on the importance of sun safety and the dangers of Melanoma. The Board of Health's efforts will focus on educating 6 to 12-year-olds by holding giveaways and raffles of sunscreen, hats, sunglasses and more on Police Beach Day on August 1 at Silver Lake. 
• Hull read a letter from Massachusetts Department of Transportation Secretary Richard Davey which projected Wilmington would receive $568,848 in Chapter 90 funding in FY14. This is part of $150 million in Chapter 90 local transportation funding for municipalities in FY14. Cities and towns will be able to access these funds as soon as the Chapter 90 terms bill has been enacted, and depending on the terms of this bill, more Chapter 90 funding could be made available to municipalities later in FY14. 
• The Board of Selectmen honored Brian Pickett, Cam Owens and Drew Foley of the Wilmington High School varsity hockey team in light of their second state championship in as many years. According to Hull, a sign will be put up next to the "W" on Middlesex Avenue across from the Town Common commemorating this feat.