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Sherburne County board approves grant-funded EV charging stations, greenlights limited EV fleet pilot
Summary
Sherburne County commissioners voted to award the EV charging station contract to the lowest responsive bidder and proceed with a grant-funded pilot to test electric vehicles in county fleet service; one commissioner opposed citing cost overruns and asked for a total cost-of-ownership study.
Sherburne County commissioners voted to award a contract for electric-vehicle charging stations and to move forward with a grant-funded pilot of EV fleet vehicles after a short but pointed debate about cost and operational suitability. The board approved the procurement and confirmed that no additional county levy dollars would be required because the work would be paid from available grant funds.
A commissioner opposed continuing with the project, saying the program had already experienced cost overruns and that he could not support further action as part of the consent block: “I just can't vote on this as part of the block because . . . the first part of the project has already gone cost overrun,” he said. The commissioner added that the county was borrowing from an internal vehicle fund and warned of throwing “a lot of taxpayer dollars after a program that's simply not going to work.”
County staff and the administrator responded that the grant program had been adjusted internally to cover higher construction costs, so there would be no additional local match or levy requirement. Staff said the pilot is intended to measure both cost and operational suitability — including whether vehicles can reliably make local interstate or regional trips — before any larger purchase is considered.
"The grant allows us to test the vehicles to see if they're good for our fleet, not just from a cost standpoint, but also from an operational standpoint," the county administrator said, noting the county has updated fleet-management software to track vehicle use and issues.
Commissioners asked for a follow-up assessment on the total cost of ownership across the fleet life cycle; staff agreed to report back and incorporate the EV subset into a broader fleet assessment so the board can evaluate EVs in the context of all vehicle types.
The board then approved a motion to accept the lowest responsive bid for the EV charging stations; the motion carried by voice vote.
