VTSD approves fuel-sharing agreement with township

The Vernon Township School District on Oct. 13 approved a shared-services agreement with Vernon Township to fuel the district’s vehicles through June 30, 2028.

The contract allows the school district to access the township’s gasoline and diesel pumping station on a 24/7 basis. Each school vehicle will be required to have its own electronic fob to track the amount of fuel for each vehicle. The fobs cost $6.

Payment for fuel will be based upon usage at the township’s per gallon purchase rate plus 5 cents. The school district also is required to pay a capital fee of $141.35 per month.

The measure passed 7-1 with Board of Education member Martin O’Donnell voting against it. The Vernon Township Council has not voted on it yet.

O’Donnell was concerned about there not being any provision to renew the contract without the capital outlay.

“If the town comes back to us and says, hey, we want that capital outlay and we say, ‘no,’ we go back to where we were before,” O’Donnell said.

The district had been using a station on Drew Mountain Road to refill its vehicles, but Business Administrator Patricia Radcliffe-Lee said there was a lot of additional regulatory paperwork required to buy from there.

The gas station also is not open 24/7.

“Say, we need gas for when we’re doing snow removal or something, we can get it there. And here we have no liability. I think it’s a win-win for us,” Radcliffe-Lee said.

Mitchell also said Vernon Township cut what it was going to charge the district for its capital outlay.

“I thought it was a fair negotiation,” she said. “Our BA was happy with it.”