Dobbs Ferry board hears engineers flagged $165,000 fee for Waterfront Park EV charging location

At a Jan. 2026 workshop, Dobbs Ferry trustees were told engineers had informed a staff liaison that the Waterfront Park location chosen for EV chargers carries an unforeseen engineering fee of about $165,000, prompting the village to consider alternate locations that would avoid that cost.

Unidentified Speaker 2 told the board that engineers had come back to Rob (traffic committee) during the vendor's review and disclosed the fee. "It would cost, dollars 165,000 in engineering fees for the location that we chose," the speaker said, adding that the engineers had not communicated that cost earlier.

Staff and trustees discussed trade-offs between protecting coastal views and cost. One trustee recalled prior board concern about coastal siting blocking waterfront views and said moving some stations inland could lower costs; a member suggested splitting stations so some remain on the waterfront while others are placed inland as a cost mitigation strategy.

Process and next steps: the board indicated the matter will return as a resolution at an upcoming regular business meeting for formal consideration and potential vote. Trustees also discussed the need for clearer maps showing alternate sites and asked staff and the traffic committee to follow up with the engineer and bring site plans to the business meeting.

What trustees did: no formal action was taken at the workshop beyond placing the item on the regular business agenda. The board closed the workshop after the discussion and will address the EV station resolution in a subsequent meeting.