On Tuesday, May 23, 2006 at 11AM, the City of Oviedo officially opened its Evans Street fuel depot, a full-service computerized fueling facility for dispensing unleaded and diesel fuel to the municipality’s fleet of vehicles. This facility will save the City and its taxpayers approximately $50-$60 thousand dollars each year.

Historically, the City of Oviedo relied on retail gas stations to purchase fuel for the City’s fleet of vehicles, including police cars and fire trucks. That arrangement resulted in vehicles fueling at various commercial stations around the City, obtaining fuel based on the prevailing retail price. In the past 12 months the nation has seen a sharp rise in the cost of fuel, with some prices for regular unleaded going above the $3 a gallon mark. Analysis of the retail market trends, coupled with a desire to reduce spending prompted the City to move forward with the planning and construction of the central fueling facility. With this facility in place, the City will be able to take advantage of lower State contract pricing for unleaded and diesel fuel, which can be purchased on a volume basis. The establishment of the Evans Street fuel depot also insures that the City of Oviedo will have a reliable supply of fuel during natural disasters and other emergencies, a great necessity as we head into hurricane season on June 1st.

Petroleum & Construction Services, Inc served as the designer and general contractor for the $388,000 fuel facility. City of Oviedo Public Works crews played an integral role in the construction of the site, thus reducing labor costs that the City would have incurred by using an outside vendor.

The fuel facility has two double wall underground fuel storage tanks; the unleaded gasoline tank has a capacity of 11,000 gallons and the diesel tank has a capacity of 5,000 gallons. The driveway for the fuel depot has a sufficient turning radius for large emergency vehicles, a lighted canopy that covers the fueling area, and the pumps are equipped with an automated fuel management system that recognizes the vehicle being fueled through a sensor and tracks the vehicle’s fuel consumption via a computerized database. All of the fueling equipment at the Evans Street Public Works facility complies with EPA requirements.