Small Town News

Conway makes plans for electric cars

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Conway may be the first city in Horry County to offer a public plug-in station for all electric cars.

Conway City Council approved one station as part of a pilot project Monday night that will be located in the city-owned parking lot at the corner of Fourth Avenue and Laurel Street.

At the request of Santee Cooper, city officials scoured the downtown area looking for the best spot and picked one space in the lot, according to city administrator Bill Graham.

If the pilot program is deemed a success, another spot could be devoted to a second station, which will service electric cars expected to be on the market by the end of the year.

Margaret McGougan, energy advisor to commercial energy services for Santee Cooper, says at least two electric cars, the Nissan Leaf and Chevy Volt should be out by the end of the year.

After that, she says, all of the major automobile manufacturers will follow.

The Leaf will be all electric with a range of 100 miles before it needs recharging. The Volt changes over to gasoline after its electric charge is depleted, which is after about 40 miles.

The charging station will cost $7, 500, which will be paid by a grant secured by Plug In Carolina, a nonprofii group created to promote clean energy.

The group's promotional information says electric cars are cleaner and will reduce the United States' dependence on foreign oil.

McGougan says electric cars can be plugged into 120-volt receptacles at people's homes where charging can take up to 10 hours, but the public station will be 24( volts, which will cut the charging time to four or five hours.

The city plans to put up signage, approved by the city's Community Appearance Board, to explain the station to motorists who will be allowed to use it on a first-come, first-serve basis.

Conway Mayor Alys Lawson says if it becomes necessary, the city might step in and limit the amoun of time a car can stay plugged in.

McGougan says it costs about 12 cents per mile to drive a gasoline-powered ca compared to only two cents per mile for an electric car.

Plug In Carolina is planning to put 100 electric stations throughout the state. Already on line for the stations are Charleston, Spartanburg, Columbia, Union and Rock Hill.

McGougan says Santee Cooper has already spoken with North Myrtle Beach about one of the stations, but hadn't as of Monday gotten a response from them, so Conway could be the first.

Santee Cooper also hopes to put charging stations at Carolina Carolina University, the Myrtle Beach International Airport, Broadway at the Beach and perhaps an Horry County library.

No one at Monday's meeting was sure about how many electric cars are in Conway now, but they all appeared to favor installation of the charging station.

Conway Mayor Alys Lawson said it seems like a great step forward. She thanked McGougan for thinking of Conway and for taking the idea to council.

Budget gets okay

Conway City Council held a public hearing on its proposed $31.4 million budget, but no one showed up to give an opinion.

Council quickly voted unanimously to approve the budget, which, in theory, doesn't require any tax increase.

In reality, the tax millage might increase and some people might see a tax increase. It all depends on how Conway fares in the upcoming countywide tax reassessment.

If Conway's assessed value goes down, it will require more mills to cover the cost of the budget. Also, some property owners could pay more if the assessments on their homes increase. Conwayites pay 86.6 mills now.

The county officials won't know which way things are going until they finish hearing 2, 500 assessment appeals.

Conway's budget is actually up $3.5 million or 13.1 percent over this year's budget.

However, the main reason for the increase is $5.2 million that will flow through the budget for the city's new indoor recreation facility.

Without the money for the recreation center, the budget is actually 8.3 percent less than the present fiscal year.



Copyright 2010 The Horry Independent, Conway, South Carolina. All Rights Reserved. This content, including derivations, may not be stored or distributed in any manner, disseminated, published, broadcast, rewritten or reproduced without express, written consent from SmallTownPapers, Inc.

© 2010 The Horry Independent Conway, South Carolina. All Rights Reserved. This content, including derivations, may not be stored or distributed in any manner, disseminated, published, broadcast, rewritten or reproduced without express, written consent from DAS.

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