Longview, Texas, Awards $1.02M Fuel Station Contract, Projects $300K Annual Savings
JC Commercial will build a four-position on-site fueling facility at Public Works headquarters, with the city expecting to recover costs in about three and a half years.
Source: Longview News-Journal ↗
Longview, Texas, awarded a $1.02 million contract to JC Commercial, a Lewisville, Texas, construction firm, to build an on-site fuel station at the city’s Public Works headquarters, with annual fuel savings projected at $300,000.
City Engineer Zack Shaner said the projected savings put the payback period at roughly three and a half years. “It’s quite the quick turnaround,” Shaner said, according to the Longview News-Journal. “We’re really excited. It’s something that we’ve been talking about for a while, and thankfully, we were provided funding, and now we’re gonna save some money in the long run.”
The Longview City Council approved the contract after JC Commercial’s bid came in at $1.02 million, below the $1.175 million budgeted for the project. The city currently refuels its vehicles at commercial gas stations; bringing fueling in-house allows it to buy fuel at wholesale prices.
The station will be sited at the Public Works headquarters, where the bulk of the fleet operates, including dump trucks, street sweepers and pickups. It will include four fueling positions and two 12,000-gallon tanks, one for gasoline and one for diesel.
All city-owned vehicles will have access to the station, though police and fire units will retain the option to refuel at other locations across the city. “If you have a fire truck on the way north side of town, unless they’re bringing it here for maintenance, they may or may not choose to fill up here,” Shaner said. “But everybody at Public Works will be using our station.”
Public Works will implement a structured fueling schedule to prevent queue buildup, spreading refueling across the morning, afternoon and end-of-shift periods. The station will integrate with the city’s existing fuel card system.
The facility will also be equipped with a standby generator and security cameras. The city plans to apply fuel cost savings toward other fleet and infrastructure needs, including replacing older Public Works vehicles.
“All the money we spend is just to benefit the public at the end of the day,” Shaner said.
