Gentry aims to cut back on fuel consumption
Posted on Friday, August 8, 2008
GENTRY - City department heads here were asked about measures being implemented to cut back on fuel consumption in their departments at a special work session of the Gentry City Council on July 30.
With fuel costs breaking budgets for some departments, council members wanted to hear from the department heads on what steps they are taking to cut fuel use and keep expenses down.
"My officers have been instructed to (periodically ) shut off their patrol cars," said Police Chief Keith Smith. Instead of parking and working traffic with the cars idling, they will be turned off at times during each shift while the officers work from stationary positions. The officers will still respond to calls, do routine patrols and start their engines to stop traffic violators.
Smith has also, under most circumstances, put reserve officers in cars with other fulltime officers rather than sending out a reserve officer alone in another car. Smith has also cut back on most of the longer trips for officer training and will try to utilize closer training opportunities.
Fire Chief Vester Cripps said his department is limited in ways it can save on fuel because of the necessity of responding to calls. One fuel-saving measure his department has taken was to convert a Jeep, which had been in use by the Police Department as a patrol vehicle, into a medical-response vehicle. He said his department responds to more than 40 medical calls per month, and most can be handled by driving the Jeep rather than running the diesel-powered rescue truck.
David McNair, supervisor of the city's water and sewer / street and alley departments, said he and his five employees take their city pickup trucks home at night because they live in or near different portions of the city's water system and respond to emergency calls directly from their homes, saving the city time and money on after-hours call-outs. He said he also assigns water-line flushing jobs, water-service shutoffs and turn-ons in each employee's area so that the jobs can be handled on the way to and from work and save on the department's time and fuel.
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