Newspaper Clipping - Newspaper Clipping Scan - To Protect and Conserve - 7/5/2008Th
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To protect and conserve
Record prices at the pump prompt gas -saving measures by the city
by Erin Johnson
THISWEEK NEWSPAPERS
Rising gas prices are
causing many people to feel
pain at the pump, and the.
city of Eagan is no excep-
tion.
Imagine having to run an
entire fleet of vehicles — ev-
erything from lawn mowers
to street sweepers — without
busting the budget or limit-
ing services.
Last year, for instance,
the city used 172,800 gallons
of fuel. The streets division
of the Public Works Depart-
ment consumed 34,654 gal-
lons, followed by the Parks
and Recreation Department
with 28,127 gallons.
The biggest consumer
was the Police Department,
which used 69,589 gallons.
Even though the city gets
its gas wholesale, prices this
year are still higher than an-
ticipated.
Photo by Erin Johnson
Eagan police officer Todd Kirchgatter fills up his squad car
at the city's maintenance facility. The Police Department is
the city's biggest fuel consumer, using nearly 70,000 gallons
of gas last year.
Eagan Communications
Director Tom Garrison
said the city budgeted about
$2.75 per gallon for fuel for
its vehicles in 2008. Last
month it paid about $3.52
Gas/from 1A
"We're trying to preplan
those activities in a more
efficient way that will limit
the number of trips to and
from," he said.
The Parks and Recreation
Department is doing its part
by utilizing golf carts and
even bicycles with small trail-
ers attached for maintenance
work in parks and on trails.
The department has also de-
creased the areas of lawn it
mows in some parks, thereby
reducing the use of fuel -pow-
ered lawn mowers.
The Police Department
may be the city's biggest user
of fuel, but it has actually
been decreasing its consump-
tion over the past five years.
"In 2002, the Police De-
per gallon for unleaded and
$4.10 for diesel.
"In 2005, we were paying
$1.81 per gallon," Garrison
said. "In 2009, we're looking
at an estimate of $3.75 per
partment was using more
than 87,000 gallons of gas,"
Garrison said. "That's a 20
percent reduction in five
years, we believe, without in-
terrupting service delivery."
Using motorcycles for
traffic enforcement is one
way the department has re-
duced its fuel use. And when
the department needs to
purchase a new squad car, it
buys the most fuel-efficient
model available.
It has also put restrictions
on idling for squad cars and
limited the number of miles
officers drive on patrol, with
exceptions made when neces-
sary.
Conservation measures
may help the city ,stay on
track this year, but next year
remains a challenge, Garri-
gallon. That would reflect a
207 percent increase."
None of the city's de-
partments have yet gone
over budget because of fuel
prices, partly because the
city spent less on gas than
it budgeted for in the begin-
ning of the year.
But a new focus on con-
servation is also getting
credit for helping the city
stay on track.
"We're spending a lot
of time trying to more effi-
ciently mobilize and demo-
bilize to conserve fuel," said
Tom Struve, Eagan's super-
intendent of streets, equip-
ment and central services.
Maintenance vehicles
— whether park, utility or
street — go out to different
parts of the city every day,
several times a day, he said,
which can use up a lot of
fuel.
See Gas, 5A
son said.
Struve agreed, adding
that his department has al-
ready budgeted a "dramatic"
increase for fuel next year in
its preliminary 2009 budget.
But officials remain hope-
ful that the services Eagan
citizens have come to expect
will not need to be compro-
mised in 2008.
"We're being conserva-
tive on many, many differ-
ent fronts in terms of trying
to be more efficient and be
more acutely aware of energy
uses," Struve said. "But we
still have a job to do, and the
citizens have the expectation
that we're doing that job."
Erin Johnson is at eagan.
thisweek@ecm-inc. com.