DEERFIELD — Residents will vote again on the Zero-Emission-Vehicle First Policy at the May 11 Annual Town Meeting, this time as an article supported by the Select Board, rather than a citizen’s petition.
With voter approval, the policy would require Deerfield to purchase zero-emission vehicles “for municipal use whenever such vehicles are commercially available and practicable,” according to mass.gov‘s description.
The policy represents one of five requirements for Deerfield to become a Climate Leader Community, a state designation that unlocks up to $1 million in grants for projects geared toward reducing greenhouse gas emissions.
Residents voted down the policy at the October Special Town Meeting with a close count of 202 in favor and 204 against, along with an article that proposed replacing the Stretch Energy Code with the Specialized Energy Code “for the purpose of regulating the design and construction of new buildings for the effective use of energy and reduction of greenhouse gas emissions.”
Of three warrant articles that needed to pass for Deerfield to earn the Climate Leader Community designation, only a community commitment to municipal decarbonization, or “the elimination of all on-site burning of fossil fuels in municipal buildings and vehicles,” was approved, by a margin of three votes.
Residents will vote on the Specialized Energy Code and Zero-Emission-Vehicle First Policy again at Annual Town Meeting on Monday, May 11, with the Specialized Energy Code article being submitted as a citizen’s petition. Ahead of this, Selectboard members voted on Wednesday in support of the Zero-Emission-Vehicle First Policy, moving it up from lower on the warrant as a citizen’s petition to a Selectboard article.
“If it’s not a citizen’s petition and it is from the Selectboard, it carries a little more weight,” Selectboard Chair Trevor McDaniel said.
Selectboard member Tim Hilchey described the Zero-Emission-Vehicle First Policy as a “follow-up” to a similar policy that Deerfield adopted in 2011 that requires the town to “purchase only fuel-efficient vehicles for municipal use whenever such vehicles are commercially available and practicable.” Under this policy, the Police Department’s officers drive a fleet of only hybrid Ford Interceptor Utility cruisers, a switch that has led the department to spend 30% to 40% less on gas, according to Police Chief John Paciorek Jr.
He added that the engines on the hybrid cruisers turn off to save fuel while idling when officers respond to crashes, stop vehicles and radar speeds on the side of the road.
“We saw a great return on investment,” Paciorek said.
