The City of Ripon is looking to get another garbage truck.
The Ripon City Council recently gave staff the go-ahead to complete the Congestion Mitigation and Air Quality Program application that includes the Solar EV Charging Station and the Compressed Natural Gas garbage truck.
The San Joaquin Council of Governments is soliciting projects this year for the CMAQ Program, with this particular one being administered through the Federal Highway Administration, and implemented to support surface transportation projects and other related efforts to improve air quality improvements and provide congestion relief.
“Through this process, there is approximately $21 million available for eligible projects in San Joaquin County,” said Associate Civil Engineer Christiana Giedd in her April 11 council report.
If approved, there would be no local fund match requirements to the City for the grant.
Ripon is no stranger to this process.
She noted that the City received funding via the CMAQ program to pay for a portion of the East Main Traffic Signal Project in 2020, the Jack Tone Park & Ride Lot Project in 2014, a portion of CNG refuse truck purchases in 2017 and 2020, and a portion of the River Road / Fulton Avenue Intersection Improvements.
The City’s Engineering Department evaluated two potential projects eligible under the components of the CMAQ program.
The installation of Solar EV Charging Station Project (estimated cost at $500,000, with CMAQ doing 100 percent of the funding) would help the City to meet the state electric vehicle requirements in the future. Included would be 10 solar-powered vehicle charging stations in town – five at the City’s Fleet Maintenance Facility, and five at City Hall.
The purchase of a CNG garbage truck – estimated cost is $500,000 with CMAQ funding 30 percent or $150,000 (the City could fork out the difference using $350,000 from the Garbage Enterprise Capital Fund) – would replace a public works diesel truck, in turn, lowering air emissions.
Giebb indicated at the time that the deadline to submit the CMAQ Grant Application to SJCOG had not yet been announced.
“This is a competitive grant process where each project is based on the California Air Resources Board’s Cost Effectiveness Calculation Methodology to determine the project rankings,” she said.
The Cost Effectiveness Calculation Methodology is an analysis that determines the air quality benefits of a project. “Specifically, projects will be ranked in order of their ‘CMAQ Dollars per pound of emission’ value,” Giebb added.
