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Committee approves purchase of CNG fueling station for sanitation, citing $940K annual fuel savings
Summary
DeKalb County approved buying and renovating a northern-county compressed natural gas fueling station for sanitation operations. Staff said the $1.8M purchase plus about $800K in upgrades (total ~$2.6M) should yield roughly $940,000.75 in annual fuel-cost savings and an estimated 2.8-year payback.
DeKalb Countypublic works and sanitation staff presented and the Public Works & Infrastructure Committee approved acquisition and renovation of an American Fueling Systems compressed natural gas (CNG) station to serve the countysanitation fleet.
Jacob, a Department of Sanitation representative, told the committee the county currently purchases fuel at the AFS site and recommended buying the stationincluding the equipment and the sublease position. Jacob said the negotiated purchase price for the sublease and equipment is $1.8 million, and that additional capital improvements and equipment upgrades bring the total acquisition and facility-cost estimate to approximately $2.6 million. He said the county uses about 90% of the stationthroughput for sanitation and that purchasing the site would remove an intermediary cost currently added by the seller.
Jacob stated the county expects the transaction to reduce sanitationfuel costs by about $940,000.75 annually and estimated a roughly 2.8-year payback on the total capital cost. Item 2025-1356 included an initial refundable earnest deposit ($100,000) and a second deposit of $50,000 after due diligence; staff described a 30-day due-diligence period followed by 15 days to close and an estimated mid-November closing date.
Bob Atkins (finance staff) described the internal funding approach: he modified an internal loan between the general fund and sanitation and said spreading repayment increases overall payments modestly (he estimated about $300,000 in additional payments spread across the loan term). Staff said the financing plan anticipates using the projected fuel-cost savings to repay the general-fund loan to sanitation.
Commissioners asked for details on the estimated $500,000 for facility improvements; Jacob said the amount covers concrete/asphalt repairs, stormwater drainage improvements and floor repairs. Commissioners also asked why the county would purchase an existing station rather than build a new one; Jacob said buying is faster and provides operational certainty, while a new build would require site selection, permitting and construction time.
After discussion the committee moved, seconded and approved the purchase by voice/hand vote. Staff said savings will be used to repay debt service and that county departments including CFO and COO had underwritten the transaction prior to the committee vote.
