LEVERETT — A long-planned effort to bring an electric vehicle charging station to the Leverett Library is being abandoned.
The Select Board Tuesday agreed with a recommendation from Town Administrator Margie McGinnis to no longer seek having a charging station at the Montague Road location, after the state rejected the plans, submitted by a company the town was working with, due to the significant expense.
“I don’t think it’s something to pursue at this point,” McGinnis said.
The Massachusetts Electric Vehicle Incentive Program offers communities up to $50,000 for installing these chargers.
McGinnis said another issue is that Leverett is only eligible to get an intermediate charger, not a fast charger, meaning that its use might be limited. She suggested people with electric cars are more likely to choose to charge at their homes, or the faster chargers on highways.
Select Board member Jed Proujansky said that three to four hours to fully charge is too long. “Who’s going to do that?”
The town is still interested in providing an EV charger. Richard Nathhorst, a member of the Leverett Energy Committee, said that photovoltaic canopies planned at the Highway Department as part of an electrical microgrid are expected to offer charging stations.
Other business
In other business, the Select Board:
- agreed to send a letter to area communities encouraging them to join Mayors for Peace, an organization seeking nuclear disarmament. The request to expand participation came from Sister Clare Carter at the New England Peace Pagoda in advance of this year’s remembrance ceremonies of the bombings of Hiroshima and Nagasaki, Japan;
- approved the hiring of Ralph Hurvitz as a five-hour per week library assistant, allowing Library Director Hannah Paessel to keep the building open on Fridays. Hurwtiz, a substitute since July 2023, will be paid $19.06 per hour, with the salary covered by a donation and not the town budget;
- jointly appointed, in a 5-0 vote, resident Adam Hartwell to the School Committee, after no one stepped up to be elected to the vacant position at annual Town Meeting. “We’re super excited to have him join us,” said Marnie Genre, who chairs the committee and recommended the year-long appointment;
- authorized the use of a hydrorake, for up to two hours, to remove vegetation at the public entrance to Leverett Pond.
