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DRAFT <br /> <br /> <br /> <br /> <br />Peter Murphy continued presentation. <br /> <br />Lisa Berley asked if funding was lost in the first pie (the funding breakdown for OPT services) if it could be made up <br />with the transit tax. Peter Murphy answered that with the way it’s written right now that it could not be done that way <br />because the transit tax was intended to put new services out there, not to pay for existing services. He also added <br />that the County is in negotiations right now because the Bus and Rail Investment Plan is five years old and it’s <br />subject to the next step in negotiations and there’s a lot of discussion on that. Lisa replied that she thinks that it <br />should be looked at because of the demands on services and if there’s another funding source for transportation it <br />would be very good for aging services. Janice Tyler added that she’d like the OUTBoard group to look at other <br />funding for this and mentioned that if they didn’t have to spend the $60,000 from the Block Grant on transportation <br />that it could redirected to other services if there was another funding source for getting the seniors to the senior <br />center. Heidi Perry said that that would require a lot of discussion because that would involve taking it from some <br />other part of the pie. Peter Murphy confirmed that would be the case and added that they still expect to see the <br />funds from the block grant next year. He also explained that over the past several years they’ve vetted what growth <br />plans they want to do and voted on the services they’d like to put out there. And based on the amount of funding <br />available they had a list of priority order of what they’re putting out there, so if the lost funding was used for old <br />services they’d have to take away from new services. <br /> <br />Peter Murphy continued presentation. <br /> <br />Alex Castro asked Peter if they were going to be able to handle the additional vehicles coming in March with <br />regards to drivers. Peter replied that it was something they’re working on; the lack of drivers has been a regional <br />struggle. Heidi Perry asked which routes the new buses would be serving. Peter Murphy said there are restrictions <br />with where they can put them because they got them through urban funding so they’d have to be used in urban <br />areas. He added that one bus was an expansion and the other two are replacements and they’ll be able to be used <br />for the Hill-to-Hill Shuttle and the Hillsborough Circulator. Heidi Perry also inquired about why this was happening <br />well beyond the proposed expansion schedule and Peter replied that it was due to driver shortages. He added that <br />with Theo’s help they’re looking into alternative options to get people licensed instead of fighting for the few that are <br />already licensed. Alex Castro then inquired if they were going to have additional staff to be able to handle the <br />expansions. Peter answered that that’s something that he, Malcum, and Theo have been discussing a lot and <br />would like to add that into an item when there’s a quorum. <br /> <br />Lisa Berley inquired about the steps on the new buses being so steep and challenging. Malcum Massenburg <br />acknowledged that it’s a known problem and it’s likely that the new buses that are coming are going to be similar. He <br />added that drivers have the option of offering the lift to anyone that may have difficulty with it and that some people <br />use it and some people don’t. <br /> <br />Heidi Perry inquired about the expansion for the senior center. Peter Murphy confirmed that that this had been done <br />and that there’s an additional pick-up at 3:30 instead of only at 1:00 o’ clock. Lisa Berley spoke about it and said that <br />there were some that used it and really enjoyed it, but the majority still leave at 1:00 o’ clock. <br /> <br />Peter Murphy concluded that he expects that they’ll be seeing more and more ridership with all the new housing <br />developments that are popping up and with all the calls that they’ve been getting. <br /> <br /> <br />AGENDA ITEM 5B. NON-EMERGENCY MEDICAL TRANSPORTATION (NEMT) – (PETER MURPHY) <br /> <br />Peter Murphy Presented <br /> <br />Alex Castro asked Peter if they were taking into account the general and administrative expenses for dispatch and <br />scheduling, and the costs if somebody is a no-show and how they’d compensate for that. Peter Murphy answered <br /> 4