AGENDA #11a(2)

 

MEMORANDUM

 

TO:                  Mayor and Council                  

 

FROM:            Council Member Joyce Brown

 

SUBJECT:       Alternative Fuels Cooperation in Orange County

 

DATE:             March 26, 2001

 

  

This week the Triangle Clean Cities Coalition held a conference on Fueling Alternative Choices Today.  Chapel Hill is a member of the Coalition, and the Mayor took part in the ceremonies when the Triangle was designated the 80^th “Clean City”.  Both Council Member Strom and I attended.    After conversations with attendees from other public entities in Orange County, it seemed that the time might be right for all of the governing entities to work together on alternative fuels.  We have a natural gas fueling station.  I believe that UNC is considering a propane fueling station.  Rather than duplicating efforts for the various types of alternative vehicles, and especially since the initial cost for development of alternative fuel changes could be quite high, a cooperative approach seems the best possibility for us all to go forward with such an important endeavor.  The recent news about global warming and climate change, as well as the very real deterioration of our air quality, might be the impetus for a cooperative effort on expansion of use of alternative fuels.

 

This is a petition for Chapel Hill to ask for a staff level meeting between the Towns of Carrboro and Hillsborough, Orange County, the two school boards, UNC and OWASA to explore the possibilities for cooperation among us all to advance the use of alternative fuels.  This could be one meeting held sometime this spring with a report back to the Council and other participants, either before the summer break or at its first meeting in August, about the willingness to cooperate and how to go forward if this seems the right path.

 

Bill Terry, the Internal Services Superintendent with Chapel Hill’s Public Works Department, was part of the steering committee that developed the program for the conference.  With the blessing of the Town Manager, he might logically be the person to undertake such an effort if the Council agrees to go forward with this petition.   

 

Cc:  Town Manager Cal Horton

        Public Works Director Bruce Heflin

        Internal Services Superintendent Bill Terry