The Municipal Equipment Maintenance Association (MEMA), based in Southern California, held its bi-monthly meeting on Jan. 17 in Long Beach. The meeting had approximately 60 attendees. According to MEMA President Rick Longobart, association meetings have tripled in size in the past five years.

The meeting focused on natural gas for vehicles, with representatives from Clean Energy, BAF, and Cummins Westport presenting. Sean Wine from Clean Energy spoke about the company’s compressed natural gas (CNG) and liquefied natural gas (LNG) fuel and fueling infrastructure offerings. He stated that refuse has been the company’s fastest growing market in the past three years, and fleets have the option of purchasing or leasing a mobile fueler as a temporary fueling option. Robert Sessa from BAF, a provider of natural gas vehicles, talked about the company’s Ford products, most of which are CARB and EPA certified. He said all Ford F-series trucks with CNG now have underbody tanks instead of in-bed tanks. However, fleets desiring additional range may choose to add an additional tank into the truck bed. Finally, Chris Young of Cummins Cal Pacific spoke about Cummins’ available and future natural gas engines.

Member business for the first meeting of the year included voting on board membership. New board members are:

• Rick Longobart, Facilities, Fleet, and Stores Manager, City of Santa Ana, Calif., President (previously president)

• Paul Condran, Fleet Manager, City of Culver City, Calif., vice president (previously vice president)

• Jannet Malig, Director of Advanced Transportation Technology & Energy, Cerritos College, Secretary (previously secretary)

• Craig Crowder, Fleet Services Supervisor, City of Beverly Hills, Calif., Treasurer (Previously sergeant at arms)

• Dean Tedtaotao, shop superintendent, Fleet Management Group, Los Angeles County, Sergeant at Arms

The board also announced a new bi-weekly newsletter for members, an online forum that will allow members to interact with one another, and a partnership with Automotive Training Solutions (ATS) that will allow members to attend educational webinars through dual membership with ATS.