Orange County NC Website
Approved 3/1/17 <br />53 to them when they got off work as a way to expand the services. Peter Murphy agreed that it was something they <br />54 could look into and ask some questions about. <br />55 <br />56 Peter Murphy continued presentation. <br />57 <br />58 Lisa Berley asked if funding was lost in the first pie if it could be made up with the transit tax. Peter Murphy <br />59 answered that with the way it's written right now that it could not be done that way because the transit tax was to <br />60 put new services out there, not to pay for old services. He also added that the County is in negotiations right now <br />61 because the bus and rail plan is 5 -years old and it's subject to the next step in negotiations and there's a lot of <br />62 discussion on that. Lisa replied that she thinks that it should be looked at because of the demands on services and <br />63 if there's another funding source for transportation it would be very good for aging services. She added that she'd <br />64 like the OUTBoard group to look at other funding for this and mentioned that if they didn't have to spend the <br />65 $60,000 from the Block Grant on transportation that it could redirected to other services if there was another <br />66 funding source for getting the seniors to the senior center. Heidi Perry said that that would require a lot of <br />67 discussion because that would involve taking it from some other part of the pie. Peter Murphy confirmed that would <br />68 be the case and added that they still expect to see the funds from the block grant next year. He also explained that <br />69 over the past several years they've vetted what Grove plans they want to do and voted on the services they'd like to <br />70 put out there. And based on the amount of funding available they had a list of priority order of what they're putting <br />71 out there, so if the lost funding was used for old services they'd have to take away from new services. <br />72 <br />73 Peter Murphy continued presentation. <br />74 <br />75 Alex Castro asked Peter if they were going to be able to handle the additional vehicles coming in March with <br />76 regards to drivers. Peter replied that it was something they're working on and has been a national struggle. Heidi <br />77 Perry asked which routes the new buses would be serving. Peter Murphy said there are restrictions with where they <br />78 can put them because they got them through urban funding so they'd have to be used in urban areas. He added <br />79 that one bus was an expansion and the other two are replacements and they'll be able to be used for the Hill -to -Hill <br />80 Shuttle and the Hillsborough Circulator. Heidi Perry also inquired about why this was late happening and Peter <br />81 replied that it was due to driver shortages. He added that with Theo's help they're looking into alternative options to <br />82 get people licensed instead of fighting for the few that are already licensed. Alex Castro then inquired if they were <br />83 going to have additional staff to be able to handle the expansions. Peter answered that that's something that he, <br />84 Malcum, and Theo have been discussing a lot and would like to add that into an item when there's a quorum. <br />85 <br />86 Lisa Berley inquired about the steps being so steep and challenging. Malcum Massenburg acknowledged that it's a <br />87 known problem and it's likely that the new buses that are coming are going to be similar. He added that they offer the <br />88 lift to anyone that may have difficulty with it and that some people use it and some people don't. <br />89 <br />90 Heidi Perry inquired about the expansion for the senior center. Peter Murphy confirmed that that had been done and <br />91 now there's an out at 3:30 instead of only at 1 o' clock. Lisa Berley spoke about it and said that there were some that <br />92 used it and really enjoyed it but the majority still leave at 1 o' clock. <br />93 <br />94 Peter Murphy concluded that he expects that they'll be seeing more and more ridership with all the new housing <br />95 developments that are popping up and with all the calls that they've been getting. <br />96 <br />97 <br />98 AGENDA ITEM 513. NON- EMERGENCY MEDICAL TRANSPORTATION (NEMT) - (PETER MURPHY) <br />99 <br />100 Peter Murphy Presented <br />101 <br />102 Alex Castro asked Peter if they were taking into account the general and administrative expenses for dispatch and <br />103 scheduling, and the costs if somebody is a no show and how they'd compensate for that. Peter Murphy answered <br />104 that they don't get paid if someone is a no show, unless the person pays for it themselves. He added that that kind <br />0a <br />