Cassadaga Village Board members already have an eye on the future. Cathy Cruver, who was recently named a trustee, brought up the idea of the village partnering with National Grid to install electric vehicle charging stations.

Cruver claims the issue was brought to her in an email from National Grid, which expressed a willingness to install the stations. “We can get ahead of the curve and not have to pay for it – five years from now, three years from now, it could be mandatory,” she said. “If we miss out on doing it now, we might have to pay for it when it becomes mandatory.”

Larger municipalities have already put charging stations into their plans, especially in New York where renewable energy is practically being forced upon everyone in the state. Late last month, officials hailed the opening of the largest open-access electric vehicle fast charging hub in the Southern Tier region in Hancock along Route 17 — between New York City and Western New York.

The new high-speed charging site includes eight universal charging ports and eight Supercharger ports by Tesla for its vehicles. The large and well-lit site outside Hancock Town Hall can accommodate new pickup trucks and has plenty of parking and turnaround space.

Cassadaga is high on tourism, due in part to its lake. Cruver’s proposal has merit as chargers would be welcome by many of those travelers.