The peak travel season is upon us, and many of you are busy making your summer vacation plans. If you are like me, the cost of fuel has become a much larger budget consideration than in years past. As much as I would like to hope that we’ll see some relief at the pump, I believe high gas prices are here to stay. With steady demand nationally, increasing demand internationally, and myriad supply issues related to capacity and security, we should expect prices to continue to ratchet up. Some forecasters are even suggesting we brace ourselves for $4.00/gallon prices. I can’t predict how high prices will reach this summer, but I can tell you that the new fuel reality is changing the way we do business at City Hall.

Our primary objective has always been to serve the citizens of Fayetteville in the most effective and efficient manner possible, all the while being good stewards of your tax dollars. Inflating fuel and energy prices, in addition to stagnant sales tax growth, have put tremendous pressure on City budgets. As I mentioned in an earlier blog, annual City utility expenses have been increasing at a rate of 8% per year for the last 10 years. That is fundamentally not sustainable, and we have a responsibility to do all that we can to reduce municipal energy consumption.

With skyrocketing fuel prices, a logical place for the City to rethink our consumption patterns is in our Fleet Division, where we are working on several new initiatives. First, we are constructing a new fueling station to convert over 50% of City vehicles to B20 bio-diesel blend by the end of second quarter 2007. Additionally, we are beginning to rethink the way we purchase vehicles by better matching the type of vehicle with its intended use. For example, we recently purchased a gasoline electric hybrid for a new Park Patrol vehicle to replace a retiring, mid-size, gas hungry SUV. Our Fleet manager is participating in a Hybrid Truck Users Forum to help develop a heavy hybrid refuse collection truck. These are some of the steps we’re taking with the City fleet, and remember that’s just one division. Our Sustainability Coordinator is hard at work making sure all of our divisions have solid, achievable plans for reducing energy consumption.

The progress we are making toward creating a more sustainable municipal government operation is important, but we need our citizens to participate with us in this global effort. Let me encourage you to look the options for reducing transportation related energy cost that are available to you and your family. To reduce gas usage, you can use our trails and sidewalk linkages to bike or walk to work. When Scull Creek Trail is finished by the end of the year, it will open up trail access to all sorts of homes and businesses making north-south bike travel in Fayetteville a healthy - and safe - transportation alternative. If you are buying a new car, consider a hybrid or one of the many other fuel efficient vehicles on the market. Take a look at the Ozark Regional Transit bus routes. It’s a small system, but who knows, a route may run right by your neighborhood. You can get route schedules and maps at www.ozark.org. There are so many ways that we can all work together to save energy, save money, and help reduce our city’s impact on climate change. I hope you’ll join the effort.

This entry was posted on Friday, June 1st, 2007 at 3:42 pm and is filed under Uncategorized. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed. Both comments and pings are currently closed.