PARIS — Following neighboring Norway, Paris will now be on the PlugShare map with the hope that it will bring electric vehicle drivers to town.

At Monday’s selectmen meeting, the board voted 4-1 to accept an electric vehicle charger to have a plug-in station in Paris. Voting for the measure were Selectmen Robert Wessels, Janet Jamison, Sam Elliot and Vic Hodgkins. Casting the only dissenting vote was Chairman Mike Risica.

At their last meeting in March, selectmen saw a presentation from electric car advocates Fred Garbo and Tony Giambro, who said the town could receive an electric car charger for free.

Barry Woods, owner of Electric Mobility and a dealer of Clipper Creek Chargers, has offered a charger to Norway’s Center for Ecology-Based Economy, which would donate it to Paris and have it installed for a minimal charge.

“We can get this electric car charger for free – they cost a lot of money,” Jamison said. “Norway’s got one. Those people seem to be able to work together in concert with each other and have nice things, why cant we in Paris?” 

Wessels said there is a small cost to the town for having an electric vehicle charger.

Norway’s electric car charger was installed in 2014 and costs the town less than $300 a year in electricity, which also supplies juice to the farmers’ market and concerts from the same meter.

Wessels thought the cost to Paris would be even less.

“That amount of money would potentially help the businesses in town,” he said. “I think it’s worth it on our part. I think we as a town need to embrace technology and change quicker than we do and this is one way to do that.”

Elliot said the town can see how it goes for a year and they could always later decide to ask for donations, as suggested at the March meeting.

Risica said he was going to “be a stick in the mud … because I hate paying gas tax.”

“I don’t like the thought that other people are driving on roads who don’t have to pay (repair of) potholes and what else. I don’t think we should do it unless (they) pay for use to use the thing,” he said. “I just don’t think it’s the right thing to do. It is immoral as far as I’m concerned.”

He suggested installing a credit card swiper to pay for the electricity.

“If we had a credit card thing, no one would use it because they would be going to Norway and we would be wasting our time,” Elliot said.

After voting, selectmen directed interim Town Manager Sawin Millett to determine the best location for the charger. Interim Police Chief Jeff Lange asked to consider the security cameras on town property so if there is any vandalism to the unit, it could be caught on camera.

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