Explanation
BACKGROUND:
This ordinance authorizes the Finance and Management Director to establish purchase orders per the terms and conditions of the Universal Term Contracts (UTC) with McNeilus and Center City in the amount of $79,164.00 for the Fleet Management Division. The purchase orders will allow McNeilus to install twenty-one (21) hydraulic heaters on refuse collection vehicles and Center City to install nine (9) diesel oxidation catalysts (DOCs) on select diesel vehicles. These installations are possible due to a Midwest Clean Diesel Initiative grant under the project heading "Mid-Ohio Public Diesel Fleet Initiative: Leading the Way to Cleaner Air," for the period January 1, 2007 through September 30, 2008.
The City of Columbus, through the Mid-Ohio Regional Planning Commission (MORPC), was awarded a grant on March 12, 2007, from the United States Environmental Protection Agency. The grant is to fund the Mid-Ohio Public Diesel Fleet Initiative, a collaborative partnership between the Mid-Ohio Regional Planning Commission, the Ohio Environmental Council (OEC), the City of Columbus, and the Central Ohio Transit Authority (COTA). The grant will fund Fleet Management's portion of the "Mid-Ohio Public Diesel Fleet Initiative: Leading the Way to Cleaner Air" project. Ordinance No. 2128-2006, passed December 11, 2006, authorized the Public Service Director to apply for this grant. Ordinance No. 1196-2007, passed July 25, 2007, accepted and appropriated $79,164 in grant money to fund this project.
The City's portion of the grant will be used to purchase twenty-one (21) hydraulic heaters to be installed on refuse collection vehicles. Currently, when temperatures drop below twenty degrees Fahrenheit, automated side loading refuse collection vehicles must idle for an extended period of time in order for the engines and the hydraulic oil to warm sufficiently. Hydraulic heaters will reduce idle time, fuel consumption, emissions, staff overtime, and ...
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