The City of Beverly Hills, Calif., Fleet Services recently opened its doors to the Government Fleet magazine editors, providing an information session and facility tour. The City, known for its rich and famous, has a fleet division to be proud of, with a new facility constructed in 2008 -- a LEED Silver certified building -- and a compressed natural gas (CNG) station that is expected to be completed in April. LEED (Leadership in Energy and Environmental Design) is an internallly recognized certification for building sustainability.

According to Rene Biadoma, fleet manager, and Craig Crowder, fleet operations supervisor for the City, one of things they are most proud of is the quality of their staff and ability to keep staff adequately trained. A wall of ASE and other certificates sits just outside Crowder's office, a testament to the quality of fleet technicians at the City.

"The entire crew is ASE certified, boasting 16 ASE Master certificates and an unbroken streak of ASE Blue Seal certifications for Fleet Services since 2003," Biadoma said.

Another accomplishment is the City's current construction of a CNG fueling facility within the fleet facility exclusively for fueling City vehicles. Construction of the fueling facility costs $1M, partially paid for by an MSRC (Mobile Source Air Pollution Reduction Review Committee) grant of $350,000, according to Biadoma. The grant also aids in the purchase of 10 heavy-duty CNG-fueled trucks to replace 10 diesel-powered trucks. The grant amount for procurement is $250,000, or $25,000 toward the increased cost of each vehicle. The fleet division already has five vehicles delivered-four sweepers and one high-pressure sewer cleaner. The next vehicles in line to be added to the City fleet are two refuse trucks.

The CNG fueling station and new vehicles are among the City's other "green" vehicles, part of the Beverly Hills Sustainable City Plan that aims to minimize mobile source emissions from vehicles and minimize stationary source air emissions, among other goals, Biadoma stated. Other alt-fuel vehicles include 3 NEVs (neighborhood electric vehicles) and 15 hybrid passenger vehicles.

Fleet Services has a budget of $9.6M, which includes a $1.6M replacement program. It maintains approximately 360 units from four different departments, including police and fire, and normally employs 12 employees.

In these video interviews, Crowder talks about technician training, LEED certification, and the City's CNG fueling station.

View a photo gallery of the facility here.