By AUBRIE GEORGE
One hundred and fifty of Evesham’s public employees will no longer have to drive to Medford to fuel up their township, school district and Evesham Municipal Utilities Authority vehicles.
A new fueling station, located at the EMUA’s Elmwood Plant on North Elmwood Road, was launched in late October as the result of a shared services agreement between the three entities that has been in the works for years.
“Our vision for the fueling station began over two years ago, in 2008 with a dialogue between the Evesham MUA and Evesham Township,” EMUA Chairman Joseph M. De Julius said in a statement. “The entire Evesham Township community will reap the benefits of advanced technology, ingenuity and most importantly, cooperation.”
EMUA, township and school district grounds and maintenance vehicles will no longer have to drive to the private, Medford gas station that previously gassed up all vehicles, offering savings on time and travel. In addition, the entities will purchase fuel through a cooperative pricing contract, offering a cheaper rate and additional savings.
At a previous Council meeting, officials said the joint fueling station would save taxpayers in excess of $125,000 per year.
The $636,636 station includes two 6,000-gallon above-ground, unleaded fuel storage tanks and one 2,000-gallon above-ground storage tank for diesel fuel. The unleaded tanks include four pumping units so that multiple vehicles are able to use the station at the same time.
Officials held a ribbon-cutting ceremony in late October to mark the launch of the joint station.
Access to the station will be governed by a fuel management software system, which will record the employee dispensing the fuel, the vehicle’s identification number, the mileage of the vehicle the amount of fuel dispensed, and will calculate the miles per gallon.
