Starting this month, Department of Conservation and Natural Resources vehicles at seven state parks and one state forest will be serviced at nearby PennDOT facilities through a new agreement expected to reduce DCNR staff time and travel costs.

By using nearby PennDOT locations for preventive maintenance, repairs and where applicable, PA State Inspection and Emissions testing, DCNR will save time and resources. In rural locations it is sometimes difficult to find nearby service stations that are vendors with the commonwealth to perform these services, resulting in additional staff time and travel costs to have vehicles serviced.

In addition, DCNR mowing equipment at these sites can also be serviced at the designated PennDOT garages.

"Efficient government requires departments to work together to find opportunities to do things smarter and more economically," DCNR Acting Secretary Cindy Adams Dunn said. "This partnership gives DCNR the opportunity to save money on vehicle repairs, and PennDOT the chance to make better use of its repair facilities."

The sites of DCNR equipment and PennDOT facilities in the agreement include:

-- Beltzville equipment will be serviced at PennDOT's Carbon County maintenance garage;

-- Canoe Creek equipment will be serviced at PennDOT's Blair County maintenance garage;

-- Little Buffalo equipment will be serviced at PennDOT's Perry County maintenance garage;

-- Mt. Pisgah equipment will be serviced at PennDOT's Bradford County maintenance garage;

-- Ohiopyle equipment will be serviced at PennDOT's Fayette County maintenance garage;

-- Parker Dam equipment will be serviced at PennDOT's Clearfield and Elk county maintenance garages;

-- Ryerson Station equipment will be serviced at PennDOT's Greene County maintenance garage; and

-- Forbes State Forest equipment will be serviced at PennDOT's Fayette, Somerset and Westmoreland county maintenance garages.

"We continue to review our operations to find ways we can transform how we do business, and that includes partnering with other agencies," acting PennDOT Secretary Leslie S. Richards said. "While we most directly affect the public by maintaining our transportation system, through efforts like this we also reinforce that we're good stewards of their investments."

The partnership was developed through the state's Mapping the Future initiative, involving PennDOT, DCNR, the Turnpike Commission and other agencies to save resources and avoid duplicating efforts. Mapping the Future supports the Governor's Office of Transformation, Innovation, Modernization and Efficiency (GO-TIME)'s efforts to identify cost savings and efficiencies in state government.

4/27/2015