PORT ANGELES — The city of Port Angeles will continue to transition its fleet from gas-powered vehicles to hybrid or fully electric vehicles, in line with its climate resiliency plan.
The city council voted 6-0 Tuesday night to approve the replacement of three gas-powered vehicles with hybrid or electric vehicles. Council member Amy Miller had an excused absence.
Two of the surplus vehicles will be hybrid. The wastewater division will replace a 2005 GMC Sierra 1500 truck with a 2025 Ford F150 4X4 Crew Cab truck, which will cost the city about $60,000. The parks department will replace a 2005 GMC Savanna 2500 van with a 2025 Ford Transit Cargo van for about $76,000.
One of the surplus replacement vehicles, a 2025 Ford F150 Lightning BEV truck, is fully electric. That vehicle, which will replace an engineering division 2004 GMC Sierra 1500 truck, will cost the city just less than $65,000.
“I’m really proud of us and proud of our community for continuing to prioritize climate change,” Deputy Mayor Navarra Carr said.
The council also approved the purchase of one gas-powered vehicle, a 2025 Ford Transit Cargo van that will cost about $75,800. That will replace a light operations division 2004 GMC Savanna 2500 van.
Public Works and Utilities Director Scott Curtin said the replacement electric model would not serve the division’s purpose.
To determine what type of vehicle fits best, Curtin said he meets with directors and those using the vehicles and considers what the cost of vehicle ownership and maintenance will be.
“The decisions we’re making are not random,” Curtin said. “We’re actively looking at what we’re purchasing and why we’re purchasing and why we need it.”
All four of these vehicles, and a few purchased earlier this year, were identified for replacement in the city’s 2025-2030 Capital Facilities Plan. Further vehicles identified for replacement this year have yet to occur.
The process of transitioning the fleet started in 2022, when the city adopted its Climate Resiliency Plan. The plan serves as a road map for how the city can build community resiliency and reduce greenhouse gas emissions, with a goal of carbon neutrality by 2030.
The plan stated it “will move us toward our collective vision of community resilience and carbon neutrality by preparing and reinforcing our energy grid, strengthening our local economy, creating a clean and accessible transportation system and ensuring a healthy environment for all.”
Since 2022, Curtin said the city has acquired 12 hybrid and four fully electric vehicles “in line with those guidance requirements.”
The climate resiliency plan also incorporates some state requirements, Mayor Kate Dexter said, in line with its mandated move toward the electrification of fleets.
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Reporter Emma Maple can be reached by email at emma.maple@peninsuladailynews.com.
