Will County Gazette

The Joliet City Council debated at length the city's application for grant funding for charging and fuel infrastructure for electric vehicles from the Department of Transportation (DOT) during the board's meeting on May 16.

The council reviewed the process of applying for the Charging & Fuel Infrastructure Discretionary Grant Program through the DOT at the meeting. City Manager James Capparelli said he was unsure of exactly what the grant would look like, as the city is in the preliminary phase of the application process. It could involve matching funds, money awards, or public/private partnerships, but it is an opportunity for the city to recoup costs it has spent on infrastructure for electric vehicles.

"I'm against it," he said of the public/private funding. "And I think most Joliet [residents] are, because we are not here to be socialist. We are not here to compete with our own businesses."

Councilman Larry Hug said he didn't support the grant, which he said had “quite a few onerous provisions, as well as different concepts to apply the grant money.” In reading through the grant text, he learned the minimum award would be $500,000, with some grants up to $15 million, but in any amount the city would have to match 20% of the awarded funds to the project. Hug questioned whether the grant would benefit their community or bring too much competition between the city and its own businesses or upset its economic goals.

“Our neighboring communities are starting to put these in so we want to be able to offer the same level of services to our citizens” and give them locations to charge electric vehicles, Hug said, citing research that states that electric vehicle use is still in the minority and mostly in upper class communities, while Joliet is “Blue collar.” He said privately owned charging stations at local businesses should suffice and, the city should not compete with them and take away their revenue from local businesses.

The council continued to debate, and Hug made a motion to table the item until the council return with more data and community comments. That motion failed in a vote, and councilman Suzanna Ibarra made a motion to approve the grant application. The vote passed, with Hug and councilman Joe Clement voting against, though Jan Quillman voted yes while telling the council she wouldn't vote to spend any grant funds without significant research.