Lakewood Acquires New Fleet of Natural Gas-Powered Vehicles

 By Rico Dizon

The Lakewood City Council during its regular meeting last May 28 approved 5-0 the purchase of 6 natural gas-powered 2012 Honda Civics from Long Beach Honda which submitted the lowest responsible bid of $134, 815 or  $22, 469.166 per car. The money will come from a grant given by South Coast Air Quality Management District.

Long Beach Honda won from among three other car dealerships, with the highest bidder being Norm Reeves Honda at $157, 079 followed by Fladeboe Automotive Group at $153, 744 and Penske Honda, the second lowest, at $148, 972.

After awarding the bid, Mayor Steve Croft said, “I am pleased that our Staff was able to secure a grant from AQMD which will help us maintain clean-air fleet of vehicles on Lakewood streets for years to come.”  A leading advocate of pollution-free environment, the City of Lakewood is one of the few if not the only one among the neighboring cities that currently provides free electric car charging stations located at the City Hall parking lot.

The new NG powered-Honda cars will replace the 6 old cars currently in operation in the City. Of the six newly-purchased NG-powered units, 3 will be used by the Code Enforcement Staff, 2 by the Community Services Officers and 1 by the Parking Control Staff.