Sep. 12—DANBURY — The city's airport administrator is looking to upgrade the fleet of ground vehicles at the Danbury Municipal Airport by purchasing two new electric vehicles with the help of a Federal Aviation Administration grant.
Those electric vehicles would replace existing maintenance and police patrol vehicles, which are now more than a decade old, Danbury Municipal Airport Administrator Michael Safranek said.
The total grant amount is $182,000, with the city required to fund 10 percent. The federal share is $163,800, according to Safranek. The city's share is $18,200.
One of the requirements is that vehicles be largely manufactured in the U.S., he said.
The city is now in the bidding process for the vehicles and is looking at potentially purchasing two new Volkswagens ID.4 SUVs, which Safranek said are the lowest cost vehicles that meet the grant's "Buy American" requirements.
The Acura ZDX and Cadillac Lyri also meet the domestic manufacturing requirements; however, they are significantly more expensive than the Volkswagen, Safranek said. The Teslas that meet the requirements are also cost prohibitive and cumbersome, he said.
The Danbury Municipal Airport is one of the only general aviation airports in the country to get the grant, he said.
"And we are the test case for basically every other GA in the country," Safranek told the City Council earlier this month.
The grant also includes funds for "upfitting" the vehicles with two-way radios and lights, and for the installation of charging stations, he said. One of tho charging stations will be located at the airport's maintenance building and the other one at the administration building.
Each charging station requires a 40-amp 220 volt circuit breaker, which both buildings have, Safranek said.
The grant also covers the cost of hiring an engineering firm to oversee the administration of those funds.
The airport will still retain the older vehicles, but only use them on an emergency basis, he said.
"We're still going to need a pickup truck. But we're trying to get away from using a gas-guzzling pickup truck for day-to-day operations where it's not necessary and that's the big key for us," Safranek said.
City Council members asked only a few questions during the discussion of the grant.
Council member Irving Fox, R- 1st Ward, questioned why the city would need the services of an engineering firm for the grant.
"Because they're doing all the paperwork," Safranek responded, noting that work included bid specifications as well as interacting with the FAA and researching qualifying vehicles.
Council member Ben Chianese, D- 6th Ward, said he commended the effort to add electric vehicles to the city's fleet, and he hopes it will be successful.
"And if it is successful, that other departments can also use electric vehicles in their fleet to try to reduce some of the costs," Chianese said. "I know there are pros and cons with electric vehicles, but I wish you the best success."
Mayor Roberto Alves commended the effort to find grant funds to purchase the electric vehicles, adding that he believe the sooner the city makes such purchases "the cheaper it is ... if we wait, it's only going to get more expensive."
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