The Town of Qualicum Beach aims to lower its carbon footprint and energy consumption by ‘greening’ its fleet of vehicles.
Council has directed town staff to work on a sizing and electrification policy in 2023 as a way of mitigating climate change.
To achieve this goal, the town has issued a request for proposal for fleet greening and modernization this year and has found a company to help create a plan.
“What this project entails is evaluating the town’s fleet of vehicles to see whether there are opportunities to either upgrade those to lower greenhouse emitting options,” said town planner Luke Sales.
“For example, if it is something that can be replaced with an electric vehicle then the recommendation is to replace it with an electric vehicle. But if that option is not available the project would identify what those suitable alternatives would be. The other side of it is to right-size the fleet in the first place.”
Council, at a special meeting held on May 15, approved a staff recommendation to award the contract to Innotech Fleet Strategies Ltd, a Victoria-based company, in the amount of $28,500 excluding GST.
The town has assigned a budget of $27,000 for the project in 2024 and $5,000 in 2025, placing Innotech’s bid under the budget allocated.
“The long-term goal is to have a modernized fleet that meets the town’s needs while also minimizing the town’s greenhouse gas emissions,” said Sales.
