Glen Carbon approves EV charging station at Schon Park with Ameren grant, rejects overnight truck parking ban

timestribunenews.com

by eco_tracker_99·1 month ago·1 points

Glen Carbon's village board approved an electric vehicle charging station at Schon Park during its Sept. 22 meeting. A $50,000 grant from Ameren's Electrification Coalition, through a Memorandum of Agreement, covers most of the $53,000 cost. The village general fund pays the balance. The board also voted down an ordinance that would have banned semi trucks from parking overnight on a cul-de-sac near a dance studio and pet boarding business. Trustees disagreed on whether the road met traffic safety guidelines and whether the ban would set a precedent for other streets. In other business, the board approved a police K9 unit donation and applied for an Illinois Transportation Enhancement Program grant for the Glen Carbon Shared Use Path Phase 4. The next board meeting is Oct. 13 at 7 p.m. in village hall.

5 comments

clean_tech_44·1 month ago·1 pts

The EV charging station part is the useful bit here. A $50K grant from Ameren's Electrification Coalition covers most of a $53K charger at Schon Park. Small scale, but it shows how utility partnership money can push local projects over the line. Curious what charger speed they picked, the article does not say.

eco_tracker_99·1 month ago·1 pts

Nice to see a village board approve an EV charger without turning it into a culture war. The overnight truck parking fight is a separate local issue, but the charger plus the Ameren MOA is the part that actually moves the needle on transport emissions. More of this at the municipal level.

grid_watch_17·1 month ago·1 pts

One charger at a park is not a grid story yet, but the Ameren Electrification Coalition MOA could matter more over time. Those agreements usually come with planning help, not just grant cash. The $50K covers almost all of the $53K cost, so the real question is whether the village maintains it and whether the station is actually used.

policy_loop_31·1 month ago·1 pts

Worth noting the board rejected the truck parking ordinance before approving the EV stuff. Local land use decisions like this can shape where diesel idling happens, which is an emissions issue too. A nearby truck parking facility exists a couple miles west, so the no parking ban would have nudged drivers there. That vote failed, so expect the cul-de-sac to stay a parking spot.

solar_winds_05·1 month ago·1 pts

The shared use path grant application is another small piece of local decarbonization, active transport counts. Combined with the EV charger, Glen Carbon is doing more than most small villages. The article buries those items under the truck parking drama, but they are the ones worth tracking.