Houghton Will Remove the Old EV Charger from the Parking Deck

Houghton will remove the old EV charger located on the parking deck in anticipation of the two new DC fast charge EV chargers coming online in a few weeks. Over the lifespan of the old charger it has been free to hook up and charge vehicles with. And it is estimated to have cost the city taxpayers 3,300 to 4,200 dollars annually. The new chargers are consumer pay, and will not cost taxpayers for people chagrining their vehicle. The old EV charger will be sold in a closed bid period, similar chargers have sold used for around four hundred dollars.

 Houghton has also received a flood related grant for work not covered by FEMA. The city will use around 100,000 dollars of the grant funds to replace the culverts in Kesterner Park with a new box culvert. The culvert will be purchased prior to the city receiving bids, so the culvert has a higher likelihood of being delivered in time for the work to be completed this fall.

And finally, Houghton has initiated abandoning the city’s easement for an ally connecting Sheldon Avenue to the lower level of the parking deck on Lakeshore Drive, between Swift’s Hardware and the Frank A. Douglass reality office. The property is owned by Braveworks. The city has schedule a public hearing on the abandonment for October 12^th. Houghton plans to abandon the easement in anticipation of the parking deck being demolished, and Braveworks’ plans to modify their property in that area.