Council discusses $2 million substation plan, impact‑fee study and drops Main Street EV chargers

Staff briefed the council that an ongoing project to consolidate voltage lines will finish this coming spring and that the current impact fee supporting that work will no longer be justified after completion. To fund a major future project — a proposed new power substation estimated at roughly $2,000,000 — the city would first need to commission an impact‑fee study performed by an engineering firm, at an estimated cost staff suggested could be in the tens of thousands.

"2,000,000. That's for the substation," a staff member said when describing the scale of the potential project. Councilors discussed timing and state law governing impact‑fee adoption and reserve policy for the electric department. Staff also reported that after running cost estimates for proposed Main Street electric‑vehicle chargers, operating costs would likely make the city lose money, so the charger project will not proceed.