Town Council Considers Adding Charging Stations to Emergency Operations Plan

As part of a review being conducted of West Hartford's during Tropical Storm Irene, the Town Council passed a resolution Tuesday night requesting that the explore the establishment of charging stations to assist residents who are without power for a signifiant period of time.

Mayor Scott Slifka, who sponsored the resolution along with council members Tim Brennan, Shari Cantor, Harry Captain, Judy Casperson, and Leon Davidoff, became aware of a similar plan which was effectively implemented by Glastonbury during Tropical Storm Irene. A significant majority of Glastonbury residents were without power during and after the storm, and utilized the stations to recharge cellphones and other electronic devices.

"We are increasingly relying on electronic communications, and sending messages through the Internet and even Twitter, but even those who were really prepared were probably running out of juice after 24 hours," Slifka said.

One possibility would be to use the fire stations as charging facilities, since they are geographically dispersed throughout town and already are equipped with generators.

Although the addition of charging stations is being considered as part of the town's emergency operations plan, those sponsoring the resolution hope that, if implemented, the charging stations could be used in the event of a power outage that affects a significant percentage of the community, even if the other portions of the emergency operations plan are not invoked.

Town Manager Ron Van  Winkle, who is conducting an after action review of the town's response to the storm, said that the charging stations would increase the effectiveness of the Everbridge Emergency Alert system, the reverse 9-1-1 system used by the town, which can be programmed to call a cellphone in the event that a landline phone is not answered.

The cost of the charging stations is expected to be minimal, based on what was experienced by the program in Glastonbury.

Although the stations would be intended for use by those needing to recharge cellphones, laptops, and similar electronic devices, there is some possibility that they could also be used by those requiring electricity to maintain critical medical equipment.

"We have taken steps to know who in town is on oxygen, dialysis, [or in need of other support] and they are supposed to be registered, but the list is only as good as those who register," said Slifka. He said that although the intent of the charging stations may not be to hook up a dialysis machine, "it could happen."

In his support of the resolution, council member Leon Davidoff praised the plan as way to increase West Hartford's preparedness. "We're not reacting to a situation; we're planning for a future occurrence."