After nearly an hour of debate, Springfield aldermen decided it's a good idea to retrofit some of the city's vehicles to run on propane fuel. The plan calls for two-dozen of the city's newer vehicles to be retrofitted at an overall cost of  $192,000, or $8,000 per vehicle.

City Budget Director Bill McCarty says the entire cost will be covered by grants, half from the Illinois EPA and half from federal grants. McCarty says the city will have to front the money, but will be reimbursed by the grants.

He says propane is about a third of the price of regular gasoline right now, and it's a cleaner burning fuel -- which means fewer maintenance issues later on. The vehicles will be able to run on regular gasoline as well. Aldermen could pass the measure as early as next week.

(posted 12:02 a.m. 09/12/2012 by Alex Degman)