Niverville moves to electric powered maintenance vehicles
June 19, 2022 | By Brenda Sawatzky
The Town of Niverville recently announced its intent to switch all of its gas-powered vehicles and equipment to electric-powered over the next few years.
Council already took its first step in this direction when they purchased an electric ice maintainer for the new arena at the Community Resource and Recreation Centre (CRRC). At the same time, four charging stations were installed on the CRRC grounds.
At this point, there are no target dates for the full switchover. It will be dependent on grants that become available, as well as whether the electric-powered vehicles become a viable financial alternative.
“Some residents are concerned about cost,” says Mayor Myron Dyck. “So I want to assure people that, where the cost of the purchase plus the operating costs are equal to or less than what is currently being used, then those items would be up for discussion at our planning session for change. This is not change for the sake of change.”
Mayor Dyck says that a full cost analysis, including the cost of adding more charging stations, will be ready for council’s review at the November 2022 planning sessions.
In the end, he says the decision to go electric is about cost savings, but it also comes from a desire to proactively prepare for the inevitable changes that are coming.
_________________
Brenda Sawatzky, Local Journalism Initiative Reporter, THE NIVERVILLE CITIZEN
