Councillors were scheduled to revisit the idea of charging for the use of its fast, Level 3 EV charging station at the June 26 committee of the whole meeting.
A staff proposal suggests a fee of 35 cents per kilowatt hour, which would translate to about $3 for an average charging session.
According to the district, use of the fast charging station at the Trail By Mall parking lot near the municipal hall has gone up 406 per cent since 2015. The number of charging sessions more than doubled between 2017 and 2018, from 687 to 1,762.
The staff report puts the operating cost of the fast charger at $960 annually, made up of $700 for electricity and $260 for system software that manages the charges and tracks data as well as general maintenance.
A fee of 35 cents per kilowatt hour would cover electricity costs and bring in about $1,000 every year for the maintenance and other expenses.
If the proposal goes through, the district would not institute a charge for the Level 2 stations.
Future of downtown WiFi network up for debate
Sechelt’s committee of the whole was due to make recommendations on the future of the downtown WiFi system June 26.
The free network was established in 2014 by the district’s now-disbanded economic development company Sechelt Innovations Limited, with an initial outlay of $10,000.
“The design had some engineering deficiencies; as a result, it has provided
inconsistent downtown wireless internet service,” according to a staff report. “The network has averaged 500 to 800 unique users a day, when functioning properly, peaking at over 1,200 users during events. The inconsistency of the services has been frustrating for some users of the system.”
The Sechelt Downtown Business Association (SDBA) agreed to take over the system in 2017 on the condition those deficiencies were addressed.
“Multiple vendors including the manufacturer worked together to update the system design to ensure stable and consistent wireless network coverage for Cowrie Street … and significant progress has been made to stabilize the downtown wireless network,” the staff report notes.
However, the SDBA has now told the district it’s no longer interested in taking over management and promotion of the downtown wireless network.
Council will have to decide whether to redesign the network to office “hotspots” instead of continuous connectivity along Cowrie Street, have the district take on the cost of keeping the system operating as-is, or decommission the network.
