FARMINGTON — A request for nearly $26,000 for an electric vehicle charging station failed to win approval from selectmen Tuesday, because they weren’t sure if funding had already been approved and because there may be grants to help pay for it.

Planning assistant Cindy Gelinas said former Town Manager Christian Waller signed a five-year contract with Carbon Day EV Charging of Illinois in January for construction and installation of the station. She said there is a July 31 deadline for having it up and running.

Selectman Stephan Bunker said the contract was signed by the past administration and needs to be accepted or rejected.

It would be too bad to approve the funds and not get it done in time, Selectman Byron Staples said.

The station is proposed for the northeast corner of the municipal parking lot at 194 Main St.

The town has received a $14,000 grant from Efficiency Maine to help pay for it. No other grants have been received, Gelinas said.

The vote to spend $25,933.60 for the station was a tie, so the measure failed to pass. Vice Chairman Bunker and Scott Landry voted in favor and Staples and Joshua Bell voted against. Chairman Matthew Smith was absent.

Interim Town Manager Cornell Knight said money could be taken from the Downtown Tax Increment Financing account. However, Bell said the majority of that money has been allocated for a bridge project.

Landry asked if it would be the only charging station downtown. “At some point we are going to have to do it, it won’t get cheaper,” he said.

There are none downtown, Knight said, and merchants want one. It would also be good for town employees, he said.

There are charging stations at Hannaford and Farmington Ford for public use.

“Personally I think it is a very worthy project we should undertake,” Bunker said Wednesday. “It is worthy of consideration at another meeting. The grant supports our downtown business district. I hope it comes forward for further discussion.”

Bell said the board should be using the town’s purchasing policy that requires goods or services costing in excess of $10,000 be put out to bid. Those costing more than $5,000 but less than $10,000 require at least three quotes from as many local vendors as possible. If verbal quotes are obtained, they shall be summarized in writing and the record maintained for at least one year.

The board tabled up to $32,000 from the Wastewater Treatment Plant Land Treatments Reserve Account for a generator for the pump station on Wilton Road. It’s part of a plan required by DEP to get stand-alone generators for all Route 2 pumps, Superintendent Stephen Millett said. A portable one is used for five or six stations. It will be March or April 2024 before a generator can be obtained, he said.

Millett said the generator could be put out to bid. The phase 3 power on Wilton Road affects which contractors can do the work, he said.

Selectmen approved up to $6,200 for the Community Center to repair the boiler until it can be replaced with more efficient units, Recreation Director Matthew Foster said.

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