NASHUA, N.H.—As fuel prices continue to rise, some New Hampshire towns are finding creative ways to cut costs or conserve fuel without compromising public safety or services.
Nashua has started a campaign to discourage road crew workers from leaving their vehicles idling at work sites and has begun checking the tire pressure in city vehicles more frequently to make sure they get the most mileage. The city also is using a $130,000 computer system to monitor fuel consumption by individual vehicles and users.
"This will give us better data on the fleet so we can better judge about replacement, use and purchase," said superintendent of streets Scott Pollock. "If we see a decrease in the mileage, it indicates we should think about trading."
In Hollis, police are leasing a motorcycle because it gets better mileage than a car and doesn't need to idle. Highway crews in Lyndeborough work four 10-hour days to save fuel required to drive to the work site a fifth day. In Brookline, police officers have reduced the number of miles they drive during each shift from 80 to 125 miles to between 35 and 75 miles.
Recognizing that such measures only go so far, other communities are thinking ahead and finding more money to pay fuel costs. Hudson town administrator Steve Malizia said his town plans to budget about $70,000 for a reserve fuel fund next year in addition to the regularly budgeted amount. To compensate, the town is shifting costs where it can.
"We may not pave a road or we may defer the purchase of new uniforms," he said.
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Information from: The Telegraph, http://www.nashuatelegraph.com
