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5 <br />To: North Carolina Department of Environment and Natural <br />Resources (DENR), Division of Air Quality <br />From: Town of Carrboro <br />Contact Persons: Larry Gibson, Assistant Town Manager <br />(919) 968 -7701 <br />Pete White, Fleet Maintenance Supervisor <br />(919) 968 -7720 <br />Project <br />The Town of Carrboro seeks $38,750 from DENR to convert two (2) lightweight Town <br />vehicles from combustion engine to electric motor. These converted vehicles would <br />improve air quality and reduce the Town's vehicle maintenance costs. Our 1998 funding <br />request addresses the first stage of a multiyear proposal, laying the foundation for public <br />awareness and acceptance of EV's. The Town hopes that future stages will reduce the <br />number of cars on uptown streets. <br />Background <br />Violation of clean air standards in North Carolina and across the United States over the <br />past thirty (30) years is blamed primarily upon an automobile - driven, industrialized <br />society. To respond to-this problem, Federal and private funds are becoming <br />increasingly available. The 1998 DENR grant is one such program, seeking proposals <br />for alternative - fueled velucles�t8 reduce air pollution from motor vehicles and help <br />maintain the National Ambient Air Quality Standards for carbon monoxide and ozone. <br />Our request represents such a pftosal. <br />The Town of Camboro, on the western edge of the Raleigh, Durham and Chapel Hill <br />metropolitan area is rapidly expanding in population- a population which is averaging <br />more than one vehicle per resident. With 14,881 people in 4.25 square miles, Carrboro <br />represents the most densely populated city in North Carolina. The increased exhaust <br />pollution (carbon monoxide, nitrogen oxides, volatile organic compounds) crowded roads, <br />traffic congestion, plus the high cost of purchasing and maintaining service vehicles to <br />operate the Town is stressing the community's citizens and government <br />Currently, the Town fleet contains sixty -seven (67) vehicles including garbage trucks, fire <br />pumpers, police cars and a number of police department hand -me -downs used as <br />administration pool cars. Carrboro's fleet covers a corporate limits stretching 4.3 miles <br />North and South and 2.8 miles East and West with maintenance and repair of the fleet <br />costing the Town $121,000 in 1996. EV's should help to reduce these costs. <br />.W <br />