By JIMMY LAWTON

OGDENSBURG – Ogdensburg is scrapping its fuel purchasing and distributing system for city vehicles in favor of a fuel card program, which will improve accountability, according to Public Works Director Scott Thornhill.

City council approved the plan after a presentation from Thornhill recently. He told the council an agreement with Wright Express, Maine, would allow the city to fill up at any gas station, rather than fueling at the DPW.

The city currently has two 6,000-gallon tanks, which are used by city employees to fuel approximately 90 vehicles. Thornhill said the tracking system for fill-ups is outdated, but the new system would allow seeing the identity of the employee who fueled a particular vehicle and also which vehicle they filled.

“We have two – 6,000 gallons tanks. One for diesel and one for gas. With everything in place, it would be my hope to remove the tanks sometime around May 2018,” Thornhill said in an emailed response to questions. “We would go through an enrollment process so that we were ready to go live by May. We would use up our existing fuel and then remove the buried tanks.”

Under the program city employees would have their own personal identification number that would be logged with each use.

The idea was well received by the council. Councilor Jennifer Stevenson clarified that some savings would likely be found due to the proximity of local gas stations. She said employees could fill up at local gas stations rather than driving across town for every fuel-up.

The cost for fuel would still be fixed by the state rate, so actual costs for fuel are not expected to impact the city and Thornhill said some savings would likely be found through the reduced maintenance of the pumps currently used by the city.