HALLOWELL — The city may have its first public-access electric vehicle charging station by next spring.

City councilors Monday voted 6-0 in favor of pursuing a grant for the station through Efficiency Maine, using American Rescue Plan Act and tax increment financing funds as needed.

Officials are submitting the grant application this week. If approved, work could be completed between April and May of 2023.

The station would have two plugs and parking spots for two vehicles and would be installed downtown in a municipally owned parking lot off Dummers Lane, near Berry and Berry Floral, according to City Manager Gary Lamb. The grant, according to Mayor George Lapointe, would cover 90% of the project costs.

Lamb said labor and materials for the electrician are estimated to cost $4,906 and the charging hardware is estimated at $8,830. The city’s public works department would also spend one to two days doing excavation work at the site.

He said officials discussed other spots, such as Granite City Park, but determined that the spot off Dummers Lane would be ideal when taking snow removal into account.

Lamb said city officials have discussed electric vehicle charging stations for “quite some time,” and that they are hoping to have an station at the city office once they are able to purchase an electric Ford F-150 Lightning cruiser for the police department. At this point, he said Ford Motor Company is not able to take their order, but conduit has been laid so a station can be built once the city receives the truck, which Lamb said may not be for another year or two.

According to Efficiency Maine, there are a total of 387 public access charging stations in the state, with 798 charging ports altogether. If approved, this would be the first public access station in Hallowell.

Efficiency Maine Senior Communications Manager Kate Rankin did not immediately respond to a request for comment.

Lapointe said a major part of the city’s economy and attractiveness is its restaurants and bars and electric vehicle charging stations will make the city even more appealing to visitors.

“It’s a cool opportunity,” he said, “and we have people in the conservation community working on climate resiliency that are doing great work for the city to identify and work on those opportunities, so that’s great for all of us.”

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