WadaHoppah founder Drew Rollert will pitch an all-electric Charles River ferry service to the Newtonville Area Council on Wednesday, Oct. 14, at 7 p.m. at the Cooper Center for Active Living.

Rollert is listed as a guest presenter on the council's agenda to discuss a proposed zero-emission, wakeless ferry and commuter service for the Charles and Mystic Rivers. The meeting is also available on Zoom.

Rollert's vision: a battery-powered boat running between Watertown Square and North Station in Boston, with stops along the Charles River. Fares would run $15 to $20 per ride, with service from 7 a.m. to 11 p.m., MassLive reported in September.

The custom-built ferry was designed and constructed by Concord-based Inriver Tank and Boat at a cost approaching $500,000, according to MassLive's July reporting. The twin-hulled craft runs on lithium-ion batteries, carries up to 15 passengers, is wheelchair accessible and can handle bikes. It draws just 14 inches of water, a critical feature for the shallow stretch of the Charles between Watertown and Newton, where the river can be as little as 17 inches deep.

Rollert funded the boat not through investors but by selling sponsorships to companies whose logos appear on the hull. He is WadaHoppah's only full-time employee.

The service has not launched yet. As of Sept. 29, WadaHoppah had not carried its first paying passenger, MassLive reported. The main obstacle is the Massachusetts Department of Conservation and Recreation (DCR), which has not approved WadaHoppah's use of the docks it manages along the Charles. The central issue is ADA compliance. Rollert told MassLive only one dock on the river, at Herter Park in Brighton, meets federal accessibility standards. He said he has been negotiating with DCR for three years.

"I'm trying to be collaborative and not combative, but it seems like every time I get together with (DCR), it's just combative from their end," Rollert told MassLive in late September.

DCR said in a Sept. 18 email that it had met with the company to assess the boat's compatibility and accessibility at several docks and was reviewing WadaHoppah's operations plan.

Rollert has said he expects to start with just six passengers as a pilot test, scaling up if the data supports it. The Charles River Watershed Association is among WadaHoppah's financial sponsors.

Also on the agenda

The Oct. 14 meeting will include an update on the Washington Street Pilot, the road safety project running from Chestnut Street in West Newton to Lowell Avenue in Newtonville. A community meeting on the pilot is scheduled for Wednesday, Oct. 28, at the Cooper Center. The project was funded by $2.2 million in American Rescue Plan Act funds for construction and data collection and $500,000 in HCA funds for design.

The council will also discuss a proposed date for the next Newtonville Village Day: Sept. 19, 2027. That date was chosen to avoid Labor Day, the start of the school year and the Jewish High Holy Days.

The next NAC meeting is scheduled for Wednesday, Nov. 4, at the Cooper Center, moved to the first Wednesday of the month to avoid Veterans Day.