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Ellsworth opens paid EV chargers, city manager previews hires and thanks volunteers
Summary
At its June 16 meeting the City Manager reported that newly installed electric vehicle chargers are operational as paid stations, previewed pending hires in parks/recreation and planning, and publicly thanked volunteers and public-works staff for recent work on parks and high‑street projects.
The City Manager told the council on June 16 that the city’s new electric vehicle charging stations are operational as paid stations and that staff intend to phase out the older free chargers. "They're now open and working," the City Manager said, adding that users can "go to City Hall, plug in, pay for it."
The announcement came as part of the manager's broader report, which also highlighted personnel moves: an offer has been extended for parks and recreation director pending background check and salary negotiations, and the city plans to elevate a senior planner to director-level work if a candidate accepts an expected offer. The City Manager said the planner retitling would not add FTEs or exceed the budget.
Why it matters: converting chargers to paid service shifts operating costs off the general fund and creates a modest new revenue stream for the city. Hiring for parks and planning are part of the manager’s effort to staff recently restructured roles and to support an expanding work program.
Supporting details: the manager credited Ashley from the finance team with setting up the payment and accounting flows and thanked Mike and Amanda from Public Works for engineering and installation coordination. The manager said two city electric vehicles will use the chargers after 5 p.m., that the paid stations already had multiple vehicles queued the morning of the meeting, and that the city expects to retire the free chargers because they were not generating sufficient revenue. The manager also publicly thanked Scott Richards of Holland Power Services for volunteer work at a ball field and named local public‑works crew members Caleb, Jared and Kevin for park maintenance.
Next steps: staff will finalize the billing/accounting routing for the chargers, complete the hires if background checks and offer negotiations succeed, and continue to brief the council on the operational impacts.
