Electric vehicle owners have a new place to charge up their cars in Coquitlam.
The city has installed two charging stations at city hall for both public and staff use. The station is located in the covered visitor parking area on the ground floor of the civic facility, which can be accessed off Burlington Drive.
Two stalls have been set up, with one dedicated to charging city vehicles.
Those who take advantage of the charging station will be allowed to power up their vehicles for up to two hours at a time.
According to city staff, the initiative is part of the Coquitlam's efforts to reduce greenhouse gas emissions from city operations by 30% by the end of this year. The municipality has also been pilot testing electric vehicles over the past several years and now have five hybrid electric vehicles and two electric ice-resurfacers in their vehicle fleet.
Electric charging stations have been popping up across the Tri-Cities, according to www.plugshare.com.
Currently, there are three in Port Moody (Kyle Centre, Rocky Point Park and the Port Moody rec complex) and five in Port Coquitlam (Morrey Nissan, Vancity Credit Union, ICBC Driver Licensing Office, IBEW Local 213 and Fab-All Manufacturing).
For a complete list of all the private and public electric vehicle charging stations in the Lower Mainland, go to www.plugshare.com.
Other Coquitlam news:
ARTS PLANNING
Coquitlam residents will get an opportunity to weigh in on the city's plans for arts, culture and heritage at a community forum next week.
Staff will use the feedback to develop a strategic plan, which will outline a list of priorities that will guide the city's decisions when organizing art initiatives and culture programs. Everything from fairs and street festivals to historical trails, archives and public art will be considered and staff hope to hear from as many interested people as possible.
The report will also build on some of the work that was conducted for the parks, recreation and culture master plan, which was drafted last year.
Residents and community groups are invited to participate in the planning process at a community forum that will be held on Thursday, March 26 between 7 and 8:30 p.m. at city hall (3000 Guildford Way).
The doors open at 6:30 p.m. and a presentation will be held at 7 p.m. After that, participants will be broken up into groups for smaller discussions, with reporting back to the main group taking place 8:10 p.m. The forum will be held in council chambers.
To find out more information or to register, go to www.coquitlam.ca/achsp or call 604-927-3556. Deadline for registration is March 24. Space is limited.
EXTRA YARD WASTE PICKUPS
The city of Coquitlam is hoping to ease the spring cleaning process for its residents by offering unlimited yard trimming collection for one month.
Between March 30 and April 30, any residents who receives garbage and green waste collection from the city can put out additional bags of green waste on their collection day. The trimmings should be contained in kraft bags, the old green can garbage can with a green sticker or bundles of tree prunings that are less than three inches in diameters and no more than three feet in length.
Food scraps should be kept in the green cart and the extra service should only be used for yard trimmings.
For more information, go to www.coquitlam.ca/curbsidecollection.
@GMcKennaTC
