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From YouTube: This Week in Ames
Description
Director of Fleet and Facilities Paul Hinderaker talks about sustainability and reducing the carbon footprint of the City of Ames
A
A
B
I've
been
with
the
city
since
december
of
1969
and
spent
the
first
15
years
with
the
city
in
the
public
works
department,
and
I
was
administrator
administrative
assistant
and
pretty
much
monitored
and
helped
prepare
and
administer
the
budget
over
there.
After
that,
I
was
given
the
opportunity
to
take
over
the
job
that
I
have
now
is
director
of
fleet
and
at
the
time
it
was
just
director
of
fleet,
and
so
did
that
40
20-some
years
and
in
2009
I
was
asked
to
add
some
responsibility
for
facility
management,
so
I'm.
A
I
forgot
you
had
this
new
title
fleet
and
facilities
director.
Let's
talk
a
little
bit
about
the
fleet
side
of
what
you
do.
Maybe
people
aren't
aware
that
we
have
sort
of
a
centralized
fleet
department
in
that
you
do
a
lot
of
the
purchasing
of
vehicles
and
and
what
I
find
interesting
a
lot
of
research
on
vehicles
and
and
their
effectiveness
and
efficiency.
Mm-Hmm.
B
The
city's
fleet
is
very
unique
or
dynamic.
If
you
want
to
say
it
that
way,
because
the
vehicles
that
are
needed
and
the
equipment
that
is
needed
to
do
all
the
different
specialized
services
or
tasks
are
unique.
We
do.
We
do
have
just
a
number
of
cars
and
pickups
for
transportation,
but
for
the
most
part
the
fleet
consists
of
like
street
sweeper.
That's
a
unique
piece
of
equipment,
a
sewer
jet.
B
We
just
purchased
a
new
Recep,
the
new
sewer
jet
vacuum
truck,
which
is
probably
one
of
the
larger
trucks
we
have
in
the
city
and
that
that
truck
is
used
to
clean
out
sanitary
sewers
and
also
can
and
vacuum
out
the
debris.
That's
cleaned
out
their
mowers
course.
A
lot
of
snow,
plow
equipment,
standard.
A
B
So
we
try
to
determine
what
those
are
and
replace
those
units
before
that
happens.
So
it's
a
it's
a
method
of
cost
control
for
the
city,
because
if
you
have
a,
if
you
have
a
piece
of
equipment,
that's
out
working
and
it
breaks
down,
we
don't
have
equipment
sitting
around
just
in
case
what
we
have
has
to
be
reliable
and
in
service
all
time.
So
if
you
have
unit
breakdown,
that's
unfortunate
because
you
you
have
to
fix
it
and
that's
expensive,
so
we
always
try
to
keep
ourselves
out
of
that.
So.
A
B
B
There's
no
guess
work
at
all
to
this.
Do
we
miss
the
mark
once
in
a
while?
We
do
things
happen,
just
like
you
with
your
personal
vehicle,
whatever.
Sometimes
you
have
a
surprise.
Sometimes
we're
surprised
that
a
unit
is
still
in
pretty
good
shape,
and
so
we
will
inspect
it
frequently.
We
expect
the
fleet
pretty
much
every
unit
every
year,
but
something
that's
getting
close
to
its
replacement
schedule
or
time.
We'll
look
at
it
closer.
A
Of
the
most
interesting
experiments
today,
I
have
known
you
two
to
have
was
the
one
where
you
took
small
compact
vehicles,
ones
that
are
getting
a
lot
of
use
by
people
in
positions
like
me
to
readers,
going
out
to
the
community
lots
of
shortstops
and
looking
at
four
different
units.
Different
types
of
sub
compacts
to
see
which
one
really
did
the
best
in
the
conditions
was
that
information
helpful
in
making
future
purchases.
B
We're
about
four
or
five
years
into
that
experiment,
and
we
know
which
ones
are
performing
the
best,
and
these
are
small
cars.
These
are.
These
are
like
a
compact
which
works
well
for
the
meter,
readers
or
a
few
places
in
the
city
that
might
work
pretty
well,
and
so
we
use
that
and
those
would
be
preferred
equipment
or
vehicles
to
purchase.
B
Costs
yeah
I
can't
tell
you
cost
per
mile.
We
do
have
that
data
and
we
do
use
that
again
when
we
look
at
purchasing
vehicles.
Fuel
of
courses
is
the
single
biggest
cost
item
for
us
in
the
fleet,
and
so
these,
for
particular
cars
you're
talking
about
their
ranging
in
fuel
efficiency,
miles
per
gallon
they're
in
the
high
30s
they're
they're
running
35
22,
almost
40
miles
per
gallon,
which
is
really
good
because
it's
all
city
driving
it's
it's
a
lot
of
stop-and-go,
the
folks
that
drive
these
vehicles
go
into
their
neighborhoods
assigned.
B
A
B
Do
we
do,
and
it
has
worked
very
well-
the
first
one
was
purchased
in
2007
and
it
was
an
experiment
to
determine
if
that
would
be
something
good
for
the
city.
So
we
purchased
that
and
we
encouraged
a
number
of
people
or
departments
to
use
the
car.
Take
it
on
a
trip,
use
it
around
the
city
so
that
we
could
see,
you
know,
get
some
good
utilization
from
it.
B
They
as
the
operators
could
see
if,
if
it
would
work,
you
know
in
their
particular
operation
for
what
they're
doing
and
just
just
find
that
good
mix
of
good
vehicle
as
a
fleet
vehicle
and
a
good
vehicle
for
performing
the
services.
So
that's
the
hybrids
are
one
of
a
number
of
you
might
say:
alternative
approaches
to
fuel
economy
and
actually
in
conservation.
B
So
we
have
the
small
cars
that
are
getting
high
miles
per
gallon.
That's
good!
The
hybrids
are
running.
I
will
tell
you
that
they
range
from
about
28
to
over
40
miles,
gallant
and
interesting
enough.
The
hybrids
do
better
on
the
highway
than
they
do
in
town
the
stop
and
go
driving.
That
is
that
was
promoted
as
being
the
best
place
for
a
hybrid.
B
You
don't
really
run
just
on
electric
side,
all
the
time
so
and
you
can't
control
when
the
gas
engine
kicks
in
or
not
so,
but
we're
getting
good
fuel
mileage
out
of
those
and
then,
of
course,
the
other
areas
are
flex
fuel
vehicles,
which
means
that
a
vehicle
can
run
on
either
gasohol
or
ethanol
and
ethanol
is
e85.
So
if
it's
available
or
not,
you
can
run
on
either
one
of
those
type
things.
So
that's
a
third
approach,
diesel
all
the
diesel
equipment
in
the
city's
fleet.
B
Now
it's
we've
been
running
biodiesel
long
enough
that
our
fuel
supplier
pretty
much
provides
biodiesel
all
the
time
and
it
sits
around
five
to
ten
percent.
Typically,
in
the
summer
times
they
might
blend
a
little
higher,
they
might
be
up
to
fifteen
or
twenty
percent
of
biodiesel
at
this
point
in
the
winter
time,
that
has
to
be
a
lesser
amount,
because
there
are
still
some
issues
with
biodiesel
that
will
gel
up
in
really
really
cold
weather,
but
for
the
most
part,
that's
that's
all
a
fuel
diesel
fuel,
the
city
uses.
Well,.
A
A
lot
of
what
you're
talking
about
to
sort
of
goes
to
the
sustainability
efforts
that
the
City
Council
has
really
championed.
One
of
the
big
projects
that
you
lead
is
what
we
affectionately:
call
the
15
x,
14,
the
reduction
of
greenhouse
gases,
fifteen
percent
by
the
year
2014,
and
there's
some
parameters
to
that.
We're
not
talking
the
entire
community,
we're
actually
just
looking
a
little
chunk
of
what
the
city
itself
as
in
in
the
city
organization
utilizes.
Once
you
talk
a
little
bit
about
that
initiative,
sure.
B
That
particular
program
and
project
actually
involves
fleet
and
I.
Believe
that's
why
I
was
asked
to
lead
that
effort
is
because
of
the
initiatives
that
we
had
taken
in
in
the
fleet
and
the
successes
that
we've
had
and
try
to
use
that
throughout
the
city
operations.
So
a
good
point
on
that.
That's
it's
not
for
the
community.
B
B
B
B
The
parking
lot
behind
city
hall
is
all
LED
lights
and
I
believe
the
intention
was-
or
they
did
try
to
put
some
in
on
mortensen
road,
so
try
to
find
some
areas
of
experimenting
to
see
how
well
they
worked,
how
well
the
public
received
them
and
whatever
so
I,
don't
I,
don't
have
any
specific
data
on
how
well
the
what
the
energy
on
those
have
been.
We
do
monitor
the
energy
for
all
of
the
streetlights
and
the
traffic
signals
well.
A
The
whole
project
for
you
started
with
a
lot
of
baseline
data,
and
that
was
a
really
an
interesting
when
you
had
to
create
this
baseline
of
a
year,
and
you
end
up
being
several
years
kind
of
melded
together
and
then
using
that
to
say
from
this
point
we're
going
to
try
to
drop
15%.
How
are
we
doing
it's
now,
2013?
Have
we
seen
reduction?
We.
B
Some
areas
were
up.
Some
areas
were
down,
some
buildings
were
up,
some
buildings
were
down,
so
it's
there's
a
lot
of
a
lot
of
pieces.
We
have
like
18
buildings,
we
have
260
some
vehicles
and
equipment
in
the
fleet,
so
one
they're
there
they're
all
independent.
We
track
each
one
separately
and
when
you
pull
those
together
as
an
aggregate,
then
you
get
this
at
this
average
type
thing
well.
A
Be
interesting
to
follow
this
experiment
as
it
keeps
going
at
least
for
one
year
and
who
knows
if
it
will
be
extended
beyond
that,
but
Paul.
It's
always
great
to
hear
about
these
programs
that
the
city
is
spearheading
and-
and
we
know
that
a
lot
of
that
comes
from
what
residents
are
requesting
when
residents
talk
to
the
council
members
and
say
we're
really
interested
in
sustainability
efforts
or
fuel
economy.
Those
voices
get
heard.
The.
B
Other
part
of
that
is
the
citizens
and
the
taxpayers
will
benefit
from
this.
So
I
will
give
you
the
example
city
hall,
for
example,
we've
we've
read
what
we
call
real
amped,
so
we
put
in
all
new
energy-efficient
lighting
we
put
in
new
heating
system
a
couple
years
ago
and
the
efforts
that
we're
doing
throughout
the
facilities
or
helping
to
reduce
energy,
so
city
hall
a
good
good
example
there.
B
B
Really
a
good
great
statistical,
we
have
one
more
initiative
that
we've
launched
and
we're
in
the
development
stages,
and
that's
called
an
energy
management
plan
for
the
facilities
specifically
and
really
what
that
entails.
Is
we're
still
doing
some
projects
that
replace
heating
systems
or
lighting
or
controls,
and
once
we
get
those
done
we're
in
the
process
of
developing
developing
this
management
plan,
it
basically
intended
to
change
our
habits
of
how
we
use
the
facilities.
When
we
leave
a
room,
do
we
turn
the
lights
off
when
we
leave
for
the
day?
A
A
You've
ever
thought
about
getting
more
involved
in
local
government.
Why
not
consider
serving
on
a
board
or
Commission?
There
are
several
positions
open
on
the
library
board
or
Parks
and
Recreation
Commission.
You
can
learn
more
about
the
positions
vacant
and
how
to
apply,
but
going
to
our
website
at
city
of
ames
org.
As
we
wrap
up
the
budget
process,
the
budget
wrap
up
meeting
will
be
held
on
februari
12
they'll
be
taking
public
input
at
that
time.
Remember
we
have
to
approve
the
budget
before
the
March
fifteenth
deadline.