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Sustainability Manager Updates
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The ESB receives routine updates from the Sustainability Manager.
1. The September Sustainability Newsletter highlighted ways to live in harmony with local wildlife, emphasizing the importance of keeping a safe distance and avoiding feeding. Subscriber numbers increased from 90 to 95.
2. Electric Vehicle Charing Infrastructure
a. The County is working on deployment of six Level 2 - EV Chargers at Municipal Building to serve 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 kick off meeting with R&M construction was held on Thursday, August 14. R&M will provide a project schedule based on equipment lead times and began work to obtain 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.
b. Los Alamos County applied for the NMDOT DC Fast Charging Grant and has received official notification of award. The project will install two DC Fast Chargers at Mesa Public Library, with each charging port providing a minimum of 150 kW.
i. The attorney’s are currently reviewing the agreement, next steps are to go to Council for grant award acceptance and a resolution on September 30.
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 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. The draft plan will be presented to ESB, BPU and Council in October 2025.
4. Education and Outreach
a. Finalizing scope of work to provide climate action marketing and engagement services for the community. The Request for Proposals was advertised on April 29th.
b. A preproposal meeting was held on May 7th.
c. The County received 11 proposals; the evaluation committee is in the process of reviewing proposals.
d. The evaluation committee selected a vendor. The agreement is currently at the attorney’s office for review. This agreement is tentatively scheduled to go to Council on September 30.
5. Energy Audits
a. Staff will begin developing scope of work for energy audit services. This is the time for the working group members to provide assistance. If you’re still interested in serving on this working group, please let me know.
6. Municipal food composting program is on hold, the County is currently working through logistics.
7. Events - Volunteers Needed
a. Past - Thank you to all volunteers!
i. Farmer’s Market
ii. Bear Festival
b. Upcoming
i. Clean Up Los Alamos Day - September 20th
ii. Customer Fair Week - October 8th 10:00am to 12:00pm
iii. Farmer’s Market - October 9th from 8:30am to 12:00pm
Attachments
A - Residential Sustainability Report - August 2025