Bluefield to get first EV charging stations

Mar. 29—BLUEFIELD — Bluefield will soon be getting its first electric vehicle (EV) charging stations.

City Manager Cecil Marson asked members of the City Board Tuesday to approve an agreement to purchase EV chargers, which will be located in the parking lot beside the old Warlick Building downtown on Raleigh Street.

"These are Phase 2 level chargers," he said, and the cost will be almost $40,000.

Marson said the car dealerships and a bed and breakfast in town have small EV chargers, but the only others in the area are Tesla EV chargers located at Exit 9 in Princeton. However, those are for Tesla cars only.

"There will be two stands go up and that would give us the opportunity to charge four vehicles (at the same time)," he said. "These are not Phase 3 chargers that cost in excess of a couple of hundred thousand dollars."

Those expensive chargers will charge an EV in about 15 minutes while the Phase 2 chargers may take up to two hours or more for a full charge. Mileage from these charges vary, depending on the car.

Level 1 charging uses a household 120-volt outlet, with the process usually taking overnight.

Marson said Bluefield's chargers are being set up downtown to attract more traffic off I-77 and bring them downtown.

It is an economic development tool, he said. and would generate more interest in visiting the downtown area to eat or look around while their vehicles are being charged.

"This is our first stab at it," he said. "We've got a great product here..."

"The state is moving forward with EV chargers and there is some additional funding out there," he added. "We would like to do some stuff on Exit 1 as well."

The Tesla chargers near Exit 9 in Princeton are only for Tesla vehicles and they are not easy to access by larger vehicles at that exit.

Charging stations at Exit 1 could provide a convenient location for those larger vehicles, he said.

"If you don't drive a Tesla there is really nowhere to charge at all in this area for electric vehicles," he said. "In Southern West Virginia there is nowhere to charge your vehicle."

Marson said having those stations downtown would make the city more attractive, especially for people coming into town for big events.

According to USA Today, the average cost to get a full charge on a level 2 charger is about $12.

Jim Spencer said every state has to develop a plan where the federal money can be spent for electric vehicle charging stations.

Spencer agrees that Exit 9 is more of a charging area for small cars.

"Why not have a commercial type EV station at Exit 1?" he said, which could service big trucks and smaller trucks pulling a camper. "It is extremely hard to get those kinds of vehicles in and out at Exit 9 (which is a very congested area)."

Spencer said he has met with Del. Jordan Maynor, who also works with the Mercer County Economic Development Authority, on the process of obtaining funding for the EV stations at Exit 1.

The plan on the statewide level is the West Virginia National Electric Vehicle Infrastructure (NEVI) Deployment Plan.

This plan outlines proposed locations for electric vehicle charging stations throughout the state and how West Virginia intends to use federal NEVI program funds to develop charging stations along major highways.

West Virginia's plan proposes locating electric vehicle charging stations somewhere along Interstate 64, 77 or 79 in the Charleston area; Interstate 64 near Huntington and somewhere near Lewisburg; Interstate 77 in the Beckley area and somewhere in Mercer County.

West Virginia is expected to get close to $45.7 million over the next five years through the NEVI program to help develop charging stations and electric vehicle infrastructure, WVDOT said.

Electric vehicles currently have a maximum range of about 300 miles.

Princeton also has a plan to install Phase 2 charging stations downtown, on Mercer Street.

In other business Tuesday, the board:

—Thanked Kerry Stauffer, who has been the city's engineer for four years, for this service, since Stauffer is leaving that position. He is an engineering professor at Bluefield State University and had been helping the city part time.

"He is the ultimate true professional," Marson said of Stauffer, an Oakvale/Kellysville native. "We were very fortunate to have him for four years and the work he has done."

Marson said Stauffer's professionalism has been evident in any engineering and construction project the city has been involved in.

"It will be hard to replace his network (of professionals and contacts) and his ability to affect folks in Charleston to get these projects done," Marson said, adding that along with his professional career, Stauffer is a "great guy" who also coaches baseball.

"We are going to miss him."

—Approved an ordinance to authorize the city to purchase the former Long John Silver property on Cumblerland Road.

City Attorney Anthony Heltzel said the city owns a parcel directly behind that land.

"We were approached by L.J. Remainder LLC (commercial property owner) ... about purchasing the property from them," he said. The city demolished the abandoned restaurant recently.

Heltzel said Mercer County has the parcel (.37 acres) assessed at about $74,000.

But LJ Remainder approached the city about purchasing the property for about $15,000, he added.

"This is in a prime location if we were to do any economic development projects off Cumberland," he said, especially with the city owning property directly behind this location.

Marson said getting rid of the old restaurant and seeing the process through to this point has taken a long time and a lot of work.

"The board and Anthony deserve a lot of credit because it takes persistence on these kinds of projects," he said, adding that large companies have a "hundred lawyers and we have one" to get all of that figured out.

—Heard from Marson that the work on College Avenue installing new water lines should be wrapped up in a few weeks.

That means, he said, that since the sewer line work on the south side of the street is finished, College Avenue will see a complete repaving by this summer.

— Contact Charles Boothe at cboothe@bdtonline.com

Contact Charles Boothe at cboothe@bdtonline.com