HomeMy WebLinkAbout5/17/2000 - STAFF REPORTS (9) DATE: May 17, 2000
TO: City Council
FROM: Grants and Government Affairs Manager and Director of Facilities
APPROVE RESOLUTION REGARDING NEIGHBORHOOD ELECTRIC VEHICLE GRANT
RECOMMENDATION:
That City Council approve a Resolution provided by the California Energy Commission (CEC),
regarding an $85,000 AB1656 Neighborhood Electric Vehicle (NEV) Grant from the CEC to cover
approximately 50% of the purchase cost of a fleet of up to 21 NEV's (up to 15 for City as lead
agency, up to 4 for the Palm Springs Unified School District and 2 Private Units). This is for a
demonstration program proposed by the City to promote cleaner air in Palm Springs by replacing
trips by gasoline or diesel fueled vehicles with "clean" electric vehicles designed for short
commutes. City Project No. 2000-08
BACKGROUND:
On October 15, 1999 City staff submitted a grant application to the California Energy Commission
proposing a Neighborhood Electric Vehicle Short- Commute Fleet Demonstration Program in
Palm Springs. As lead agency, Palm Springs proposed to joint venture with the Palm Springs
Unified School District for the purchase of up to 21 small NEV electric cars and trucks (up to15 for
the City, up to 4 for PSUSD, and 2 private vehicles). The City's application was for the maximum
$85,000 grant availability to assist in the purchase cost of a NEV vehicle fleet, based on a 50%
cost reduction towards the estimated fleet cost of 21 NEV vehicles (about $4,048 grant assistance
per vehicle) or (about $60,720 towards up to 15 City vehicles, about $16,192 towards up to 4
School District vehicles and about $8,096 towards the 2 privately purchased vehicles). The local
matching costs were estimated to equal the above proportionate grant amounts.
The California Energy Commission received twelve (12) grant applications state-wide and voted
to award four Assembly Bill 1656 grants (2 in Northern California and 2 in Southern California) at
the CEC meeting on January 12, 2000:
• Palm Springs (Municipal) NEV Short-Commute Fleet Demonstration Program
• Anaheim Transportation Network (Low Income User) NEV Program
• (San Jose) East Campus Commercial Organization (Campus & Public) NEV Program
• (Sebastopol) Zapworld (Tourist and Hotel) NEV Program
As one can see, the CEC chose a variety of programs to give the combined state-wide NEV
experiment as much diversity as possible to gain the most feedback from multiple uses. The CEC
is relying on expertise help from the South Coast Air Quality Management District and their Mobile
Source Air Pollution Reduction Review Committee (MSRC), who are familiar with such clean air
demonstration projects. The MSRC funded the City's recent Electric Bicycle Demonstration
Program (first in the USA) and the purchase of the City's two Ford Electric Ranger Pickups.
The MSRC will assist the State CEC to monitor this new NEV Program and look for ways to
expand the concept of these demonstration projects to other state wide uses for those programs
that prove air quality efficient. The MSRC ,for instance, discovered that the Palm Springs Electric
Bicycle Program saved 422 Pounds of Pollution per bicycle per year based on the gasoline
vehicle trip replacements of 79 miles per bicycle per month. The City's proposed NEV Program
should nearly triple that figure with 225 average miles per month projected for each NEV (a
possible 1,100 pounds of air pollution per vehicle saved per year) or possibly 11.6 tons of total air
pollution saved per year for the proposed 21 vehicle NEV fleet in Palm Springs.
The CEC is asking each of the 4 NEV Grant recipient agencies or groups to approve a Resolution
in support of the program, then Work Statements and Budget Statements next as part of a
Reimbursement Agreement which is to follow from the CEC. The City and School District's joint
venture NEV Fleet efforts were originally proposed to the CEC as follows:
Originally Proposed Municipal NEV Fleet (Up to15 Electric Cars & Trucks):
• Airport (2 NEV's): 1-for on Airport inspections; 1-for runs to City facilities
• Police (4 NEV's): Downtown CSO's & Merchant/Neighborhood Watch Programs
• Engineering/ Economic Dev.(1 NEV): 1 shared NEV for meetings and field trips
• Vehicle Maintenance (1 NEV): Mail runs, meetings, supply pickup runs
• Procurement/ Human Resources/ Public Info./ Risk Mgmt./ Rent Control : (1 NEV)
• Planning/ Building/ Code Enforcement (1 NEV): shared use by the 3 divisions
• City Facility Maintenance (1 NEV): Mail runs, meetings, supply runs, maintenance
• Print Shop/ Information Services (1 NEV): Printing & Computer deliveries, Mail
• Library Center (1 NEV): Mail runs, supply runs, errands, meeting commutes
• Parks & Recreation (1 NEV): Mail runs, supply runs, errands, meetings
• City Manager/ Mayor & City Council (1 NEV): Shared use for local meetings
Originally Proposed Private NEV Fleet (Up to 2 Electric Cars & Trucks):
• Downtown Development Center (1 NEV): Commute to and from home and mtgs.
• Chamber of Commerce (1 NEV): Shared use (12 persons)- ribbon cuttings, mtgs.
Originally Proposed Palm Springs Unified School District Fleet (Up to 4 Electric Cars & Trucks):
• Maintenance Division (3 NEV's): Parts and supply runs, meetings
• Security Division (1 NEV): Provide High School campus security- Policing
Some substitutions may be made to the original list (above) and possibly some units indicated
may be acquired by other outside local agencies/organizations in order to obtain the highest and
best use to insure optimum gasoline vehicle replacement miles and clean-air efficiency.
Funds for the City's 50% share of cost for the NEV vehicles ($60,720 proportion), as proposed in
the grant application, may come from the Motor Vehicle Reserve (MVR) fund or individual
department budgets, dependent upon available resources. This may include the one NEV for the
Chamber of Commerce ($4,048 proportion), however private assistance is being sought by the
Chamber to cover the matching cost for their NEV. The Downtown Development Center will
purchase their own vehicle ($4,048 proportion) and the remaining 4 NEV's will be purchased by
the Palm Springs Unified School District ($16,192 proportion). The NEV's vary in cost, ranging
from about $6,000 to $9,000 each, plus tax, depending on manufacturer or model selected. (less
the grant match). Options are also available such as lockable storage, pickup beds and canvas
doors, etc.
The variety of NEV's available on the market are quite limited. Only a few companies in the US
currently have NEV's that meet the Federal DOT (FMVVSS 500) and State (AREO A-331-1) NEV
regulations (Including speed limitation to 25 mph and 30 mile range and certain safety features).
Bombardier Company and Global Electric Motors (GEM) were two of the most well known
manufacturers that met these specific regulations. However Bombardier has stopped production
of their vehicle, leaving GEM as one of the few limited NEV's already currently certified for use in
California, with several other manufacturers , including Ford Motor Co., seeking NEV certification.
Certified NEV's are street legal on any California street posted 35 mph or less.
The City has been testing the GEM NEV for the past 5 months and find that they are well made
and provide a choice of 4 models (4- Seat and 2-Seat Cars and Short-Bed and Long-Bed Trucks).
The test drives by City and School District representatives indicate that a variety of models and
styles will be required to fill needs of the users in the program. Other new vehicle NEV brands will
also be tested (i.e. Planet Electric, Ford THINK Neighbor, Dynasty Motors, Western Golf Car),
some of which are now, or may soon be offering NEV's that meet the Federal and State NEV
regulations required by the California Energy Commission grant specifications. Final selection of
successful NEV could be sorted out by a combination of test drives and competitive bidding.
The City may choose to purchase NEV's from a variety of manufacturers in order to provide a
wider comparison base during the program (as done during the City's E-Bike Program).
The California Energy Commission has prepared Reimbursement Agreements for each of the
four grant recipients, including the City. The CEC would like to have each agency approve the
agreements by June, 2000 and the CEC has proposed that the City's matching cost expenditures
be made in the first one-half of fiscal year 2000/01, preferably prior to December 31, 2000.
The proposed NEV Grant Program was discussed at the City Council Study Session on April 26,
2000 while reviewing the City's Motor Vehicle Reserve (MVR) Program proposed for fiscal year
2000/01. As a result of that discussion, staff will be exploring ways to reduce the impact on the
MVR to be no more than $40,000 for the City portion of matching costs.
The proposed Palm Springs NEV Short-Commute NEV Program would be the largest NEV Fleet
in California. This would be another first for Palm Springs as we were the first City in the USA to
provide electric bicycles to the public during the AQMD Grant funded E-Bike Program in 1997 and
1998.
A resolution, originating from the California Energy Commission, is attached for the City Council's
consideration. This resolution would set the grant process in motion and staff would return to
Council with a Reimbursement Agreement from the CEC for adoption in June or July, 2000. The
Reimbursement Agreement will detail matching costs and include the Budget Statement and
Work Statement, including milestone deadlines required by the CEC , for the proposed Palm
Springs Neighborhood Electric Vehicle Program.
APPROVED:
ROBERT L. MOHLER SCOTT MIKESELL
Grants and Government Affairs Manager Director of Facilities
APPROVED:
11� City Manager (PA3
Attachment: Resolution originating from the California Energy Commission
REVIEWED BY VE OF FINANCE
TRANSMITTAL
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FROM: Robert L. Mohler
Grants & Government Affairs Manager Eo'
CITY OF PALM SPRINGS CqC 1 FO RN�P
Department: Assistant City Manager- Operations
3200 E. Tahquitz Canyon Way (P.O. Box 2743)
Palm Springs, CA. 92263-2743 Phone: (760) 323-8250/Fax 322-8360
TO:
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FOR YOUR INFORMATION,_PLEASE RETURN
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_ PLEASE REVIEW AND RETURN WITH COMMENTS BY:
_ THIS WILL BE THE ONLY COPY YOU WILL RECEIVE
AN ORIGINAL or HARD COPY WILL BE FORWARDED BY MAIL TODAY
Mailing Address Street Address
P.O. Box 2743 3200 E. Tahquitz Canyon Way
Palm Springs, CA 92263 Palm Springs, CA 92262
PAGE 1 OF/:5V PAGES
STATE OF CALIFORNIA THE RESOURCES AGE GRAY DAVIS, Governor
CALIFORNIA ENERGY COMMISSION _
1516 NINTH STREET
SACRAMENTO, CA 95814-5512
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(916)654-4381 ..->
July 26, 2000 —
Mr. Robert Mohler .57- , ''°.� �'' r `'✓
City of Palm Springs rl'-e��
3200 E. Tahquitz Canyon Ways � y��,e,�
Palm Springs, CA 92262
Dear Mr. Mohler:
AWARD NUMBER CMI-99-004 �
Enclosed for your records is Brae frilly executed copy of the above-referenced agreement.
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Should you have any questions,please feel free to call me at (916) 654-4285.
Sincerely,
ARLENE WINTER
Grants and Loans Office
Enclosure
cc: Peter Villanueva, Energy Cormnission
RESOLUTION NO,
OF THE CITY COUNCIL OF THE CITY OF PALM SPRINGS,
CALIFORNIA, IMPLEMENTING THE PALM SPRINGS
NEIGHBORHOOD ELECTRIC VEHICLE (NEV) SHORT-
COMMUTE FLEET PROGRAM UNDER AN AB1656 GRANT
FROM THE CALIFORNIA ENERGY COMMISSION
WHEREAS, Chapter 324, Statutes of 1998 (AB 1656), included appropriations from the
Petroleum Violation Escrow Account to the California Energy Commission for
transportation technology advancement and commercialization programs; and
WHEREAS, the California Energy Commission to achieve its transportation energy
program objectives provides funds to cost-share neighborhood electric vehicle
demonstrations; and
WHEREAS, the City of Palm Springs is desirous to implement a project with Energy
Commission Neighborhood Electric Vehicle Program funds for the Palm Springs
Neighborhood Electric Vehicle (NEV) Short-Commute Fleet Demonstration Program;
NOW THEREFORE BE IT RESOLVED that the City of Palm Springs is hereby
authorized and empowered to apply for funds and, if recommended for funding, execute
in the name of the City of Palm Springs an agreement with the California Energy
Commission to implement the Palm Springs Neighborhood Electric Vehicle (NEV) Short-
Commute Fleet Program and to execute a Reimbursement Agreement, including a Work
Statement and Budget Statement and all other necessary documents to implement and
carry out the purposes of this resolution.
Adopted this day of , 2000.
AYES:
NOES;
ABSENT:
ATTEST: CITY OF PALM SPRINGS, CALIFORNIA
by
City Clerk City Manager
REVIEWED &APPROVED AS TO FORM