Item #03
Date: September 17, 2024
To: Mayor and City Council
From: Vincenzo S. Corazza, Public Works Director
Jason Zumalt, Public Works Manager
Jim Schaad, City Manager
Subject: Feather River Air Quality Management District (FRAQMD) Carl Moyer Lawn & Garden Program
Recommendation:
Pass a Motion to 1) accept the Feather River Air Quality Management District’s (FRAQMD) Carl Moyer Lawn & Garden Program vouchers and 2) authorize the City Manager, or designee, to trade-in approved surplus equipment for new electric riding lawn mowers and small tools.
Rationale for Recommendation:
Authorizing the motion will enable staff to trade in surplus combustion equipment for new cordless, zeroemission battery powered equipment at minimal or no cost to the City. This aligns with the California Air Resources Board’s goal of reducing greenhouse gas emissions by utilizing FRAQMD’s voucher program.
Background:
The City frequently retires tangible property used in City Departments due to issue such as inoperability, obsolescence, or expense of maintenance. Previously, surplus riding lawnmowers would be sent to public auction facilities and smaller, obsolete tools would have been discarded.
Recently, FRAQMD introduce a program to trade in older gasoline/diesel equipment with electric or lower emitting fuel equipment. Public Works applied for this program to replace two chainsaws, one trimmer, and one edger. Additionally, FRAQMD offers vouches up to $15,000 for riding lawnmower trade ins. The Public Works staff applied for two riding lawnmower trade-ins vouchers and were approved as detailed in Attachment 1.
Discussion & Analysis:
The vouchers are conditioned on physical equipment being taken out of service and must be turned into a participating merchant in operational condition within 30 days of the purchase of the new equipment.
Public Works has two previously approved surplus John Deere lawnmowers for disposal which will be traded in using these vouchers. The small tools were previously taken out of service waiting to be discarded.
The vouchers are only valid for 60 days from the FRAQMD approval letter dated August 14, 2024. They will be applied to the total cost of the new battery powered equipment as a rebate off the original price.
Item #03
The vouchers must be redeemed at one of the participating merchants listed by FRAQMD at the time of purchase. Attachment 2 illustrates the application of a voucher to a chainsaw trade-in.
Fiscal Analysis:
The fiscal impact will be minimal and will be covered by the current Facilities and Parks budget for any amount exceeding the voucher rebates. The electric riding lawn mowers cost less than the voucher but with the necessary added on accessories (e.g. battery, charger), the overall expense will be slightly higher than the voucher value.
Attachments:
1) FRAQMD Vouchers
2) $700 Chainsaw Voucher Applied to New Electric Chainsaw Example