Community Invited to Celebrate Hauke Park Electric Vehicle Parking Lot With Ribbon Cutting

City of Mill Valley 
The City of Mill Valley is pleased to invite the community to a Ribbon Cutting Ceremony on Wednesday, September 4 at 1:00 pm to celebrate the recently completed construction of a $28K project to install a new public Electric Vehicle Charging Station in Mill Valley and the acquisition of four all-electric Mitsubishi i-MiEVs.  

The Ribbon Cutting Ceremony will take place at the Hauke Park parking lot on Hamilton Drive.

Mill Valley Mayor Andrew Berman, City Manager Jim McCann, and Public Works Director Jill Barnes will speak, and other City Councilmembers, Board, Commission and Committee members and City staff will attend.

Other participants include representatives from organizations that helped make this a successful project, such as representatives of the Transportation Authority of Marin, California Energy Commission, Association of Bay Area Governments, Bay Area Air Quality Management District, Mitsubishi Motors of North America, Active International, Mike Albert Leasing, and the Bay Area Climate Collaborative.

Guided by its Core Values to preserve health and safety and the community's high quality of life, the Mill Valley City Council established environmental conservation and sustainability as one of its Key Issues.  The Council has identified the need to pursue environmental sustainability initiatives such as the installation of Electric Vehicle Charging Stations as one of their Priority Projects for 2012-2014.  

In April 2012 the City Council approved a budget adjustment and authorized the City Manager to proceed with the installation of an Electric Vehicle Charging Station at the Hauke Park parking lot.  In June 2012, the City Council took a budget action to phase out large, inefficient former police vehicles as general City-purpose and employee carpool vehicles and authorized the City Manager to proceed with the procurement of more efficient replacement vehicles.

About the Charging Station: Mill Valley’s first Electric Vehicle Charging Station was established by the City Council as a pilot program for one year to evaluate the ease of use and popularity of the station as well as to identify parking or other operational issues.  During the pilot period the City will not charge a fee for electrical usage. 

City staff recommended the location at Hauke Park because of its proximity to the Public Safety Building Solar Array as a power source, the proximity to publicly used fields, hiking and biking paths and its proximity to Highway 101.  The station has two output levels, a Level I (110v) and a Level II  (240v) output.  
Parking will not be restricted for Electric Vehicle use only, and there will be no time limit. 

This project was made possible by a grant for $26,757 from Transportation Authority of Marin, California Energy Commission, Association of Bay Area Governments, and the Bay Area Air Quality Management District. The City purchased the charger at a manufacturer-reduced cost of $4,362.  

The installation for the charger and new energy efficient hand dryers and their installation cost $7,950.  The rest of the grant funds were used for pedestrian and ADA improvements, including an accessible curb ramp and parking stalls, and the replacement of a damaged walkway.  The City also paid $900 for an ADA consultant to assist with the project with City funds.

City staff estimates the station will incur energy costs of approximately $400 per year, which will be accommodated through the excess energy produced by the Public Safety Building Solar Array.
  
After the program’s first year, the City will pay an annual subscription fee of $230 to the Chargepoint Network to participate in its program.  This subscription provides the network connectivity, driver and host services and billing ability should the City choose to start charging for use.  

This subscription cost will be funded from the City Budget’s Parking Fund. 

The City is in the beginning stages of evaluating sites for more Electric Vehicle Charging Stations along the 101 corridor.  The City is also looking into installing four Electric Vehicle Charging Stations behind the Public Safety Building for the sole use of City-owned electric vehicles.

About the Mitsubishi i-MiEVs: The City has leased four new Mitsubishi i-MiEV Electric Vehicles for a three-year period a reduced cost through a partnership with several private sector companies: Active International, Mitsubishi Motors of North America and Mike Albert Leasing.  

The offer stems from an arrangement between Active and Mitsubishi, whereby the vehicles are payment for services the automobile company received from Active.  Active is in turn “donating” the lease of the vehicles to municipalities.

The first year of the lease will be covered by Active and threequarters of the second year will be covered by a California Clean Vehicle Rebate for no-emission vehicles. Payment on the third year of the program will be the responsibility of the City.  The City will also pay for the registration of the vehicles.

The vehicles will be used to replace inefficient former police vehicles as general City-purpose and employee carpool vehicles.  The addition of these vehicles to the City fleet will help the town to meet its greenhouse gas emission reduction targets.