Kankakee Times

Four electric vehicle charging stations will soon be featured in the parking lots on Main Street in downtown Manteno.

Manteno Mayor Timothy Nugent, who hopes the addition will attract individuals to the area, made the announcement during a Dec. 19 village board meeting.

“So we are going to be ahead of the game here and be one of the only communities in the area that has public electric charging stations and we're starting out small by only doing four in anticipation that there'll probably be more to come,” Nugent said at the meeting.

While there aren’t a lot of electric vehicles in the area yet, as stated at the meeting, the number has been growing and is expected to continue to grow in the coming years.

The slow charging stations are intended to increase business in the village’s businesses district as it encourages drivers to stop at a few stores or go into a restaurant downtown while they wait for their vehicle to charge.

The town’s McDonald's is also putting in some charging stations although they will be fast charging ones.

The stations operate similar to a gas pump or a parking meter with drivers swiping their credit card to pay for the electricity used as they charge, as discussed at the meeting.