Watertown Council approves EV charger loan, manager raise and a series of maintenance and gift measures

The Watertown City Council on Monday approved a set of budget and administrative measures, including a $180,000 loan order to install electric vehicle charging stations, a salary increase for the city manager, a $90,000 transfer to cover skating-rink boiler replacements, and several gift acceptances and personnel confirmations.

Electric vehicle chargers: The council approved a loan order to borrow $180,000 to pay for the installation of multiple electric vehicle charging stations around the city, including two dual-port bollard chargers at the Nichols Ave lot, two at the Phillips 30 Common Street lot, two ABB TerraFast chargers at the skating rink, two bollard-mounted chargers at the police department lot, and potentially additional locations. City Manager George Proakis said the request combines amounts identified in the city’s FY24 and FY25 capital improvement plans and that the city expects to establish a charging-fee program to recoup electricity costs. "We are in the process of establishing a program where we will begin charging users of the stations for the electricity that they use," Proakis said. The council approved the loan order by roll call.

Manager salary adjustment: The council voted to increase the city manager’s salary, applying a 2.5 percent cost-of-living adjustment and a 1.5 percent performance component, moving the manager's base salary to $235,248 (effective July 1, 2024, per the…