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Sustainability Manager Updates
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The ESB receives routine updates from the Sustainability Manager.
1. The November Sustainability Newsletter celebrated America Recycles Day and highlighted the amazing recycling program Los Alamos County offers. Subscriber numbers increased from 99 to 117.
2. Electric Vehicle Charging Infrastructure
a. The County is constructing six Level 2 - EV Chargers at Municipal Building to serve the County fleet and the community.
i. The ChargePoint amendment was approved by Board of Public Utilities on April 2 and County Council on April 8.
ii. The County Council approved the construction task order on July 8, 2025. Construction will begin by August 2025.
iii. The kickoff meeting with R&M construction was held on Thursday, August 14. R&M will provide a project schedule based on equipment lead times and obtaining permits.
iv. September 5 - R&M received permits from NM CID. We are awaiting the project schedule. The contractor is investigating lead times for the vault box that is needed for the project.
v. October 13 - Construction began and is estimated to be complete December 31st.
vi. November - The construction crew poured concrete curb and gutter, ADA parking spaces, and installed bollards.
b. Los Alamos County received NMDOT DC Fast Charging Grant funding. The project will construct two DC Fast Chargers at Mesa Public Library, with each port providing a minimum of 150 kW.
i. September 30 - Council approved grant agreement and passed a Resolution.
ii. November - Public Works employees completed the ADA design. Utilities engineers are working on electrical design.
3. Fleet Conversion and Community-Wide EV Charging Plan
a. The County had the kick-off meeting for the Fleet Conversion and Community-wide EV Charging Plan.
b. County Council received an overview on March 25th and BPU on April 2nd.
c. Stantec met with Public Works and Community Services Department on May 12 to understand vehicle utilization.
d. Community Visioning Meeting was held May 12 in Council Chambers and virtually.
e. The survey opened on May 28, 2025, and closed on July 31, 2025.
f. Stantec conducted site visits on July 10th and 11th on County property to understand feasibility, identifying potential EV charging locations and reviewing electric capacity.
g. Staff reviewed modeling for Fleet Conversion. An update on the study was presented to ESB, BPU, and County Council.
h. Stantec will present the draft report to ESB, BPU and County Council in December and the community meeting will be held on December 3rd from 6-8pm in Council Chambers and virtually. The public comment period on the draft report will be open starting December 3rd and will remain open for two weeks, until December 17th.
4. Education and Outreach
a. Finalized scope of work to provide climate action marketing and engagement services for the community. The Request for Proposals was advertised on April 29th, and a preproposal meeting was held on May 7th.
b. The County received 11 proposals; the evaluation committee is in the process of reviewing proposals.
c. County Council approved the agreement with Modern Entrepreneur Firebrand Creative on October 7.
d. Firebrand and the County Steering Committee held a kickoff meeting.
5. Municipal food composting program is on hold; the County is currently working through logistics.
6. Events - Volunteers Needed
a. Upcoming
i. Create holiday ornaments from recycled materials - due December 1st.
ii. Eco Club: Nov. 20: Sort and set up for the sale (times TBD). Help needed from ESB: Come help sort and set up. Requires a background check and volunteer badge.
iii. Eco Club: Nov. 22 (9am to 12pm): Clothing sale. Help needed from ESB: Staff the sale, carry out an activity with a prize. Requires a background check and volunteer badge.
iv. Eco Club: Nov. 22 (after the sale): Help needed from ESB: Load up excess donations
7. Creating Recycled Ornaments for the Holiday Tree (Chamisa Elementary, Barranca Mesa Elementary, High School Eco Club, PEEC Nature Center, Citizen Climate Lobby, and Los Alamos County employees have contributed).
Attachments
A - Residential Sustainability Report - October 2025