Council advances EV infrastructure: four charging-station grant finalists; adopts EV parking ordinance

City staff told the council that Verona advanced four sites to the next round of the Dane County Charge Up Dane County grant competition: the Verona Public Library, City Hall, the city lot behind the Souirier (city lot) and the Ice Arena parking lot. The grant would pay for equipment, installation and five years of maintenance before transferring ownership to the city.

Separately the council adopted ordinance 25-1069, which designates parking spaces reserved for electric vehicle charging and makes it unlawful to park non-electric vehicles or idle an EV in a charging stall when not actively charging. Council members said enforcement will follow the same approach used for other restricted parking, relying on police discretion and complaint-driven enforcement; officers will verify charging status and determine whether to issue citations.

Council members raised questions about practical enforcement details — for example, whether there will be a specified grace period after charging completes — and staff said officers will use discretion in the field and the city will develop guidance for users of public chargers. The county grant staff indicated the program, if awarded, would pay for the charging stations and installation and maintain the stations for five years before ownership transfers to the municipality.

The combined actions move Verona closer to adding public EV charging capacity while establishing locally enforceable parking rules to keep charging stalls available to EV drivers.