A motion to have staff at the City of Belleville prepare a plan to implement a minimum of four electric vehicle-charging stations at Quinte Sports and Wellness Centre failed to pass at council’s meeting on Monday.
This despite an amendment to the original motion that would delay a decision to discussions on the 2026 capital budget
Councillor Margaret Seu introduced the motion after asking city staff to look into the feasibility of implementing EV charging stations at municipal locations.
In a report to council on May 26, Director of Transportation and Operations Services Joe Reid said staff were able to contact a company that sells EV chargers and received a free feasibility audit of city-owned properties with the QSWC listed as one of them.
It was noted in the report that if the city were to proceed, it would need to allocate funds to a dedicated capital budget line specific to the initiative.
Councillor Kathryn Brown requested an amendment to the motion that the implementation of the EV chargers be looked at during discussions about the 2026 capital budget.
“I want to be sensitive to the fact that this is a new entrance. It’s not something that had been in our capital plan in the past, nor is it something that’s on our 10-year asset management plan,” Councillor Brown said in her amendment.
“So rather than do it in isolation, I’d like to see it included as part of the discussions with the capital budget for 2026.”
Councillor Garnet Thompson spoke against the motion saying a number of private businesses have been installing EV chargers.
Thompson asked if the city would be providing the chargers for free, to which CAO Matt MacDonald answered, saying that staff would put together a report that would provide options and recommendations on how to move forward. That decision would be ultimately up to council.
The motion to add the amendment was narrowly carried by council, however the main motion with the amendment failed to move forward.
CORRECTION: A previous version of the story stated that the amended motion was carried, when it was not. Quinte News apologizes for the error.
