Fed, county money make public transportation growth steady in St. Clair
Published 10:58 am Friday, July 23, 2010
The county commission will spend $87,614 on public transportation to match an equal amount handed down by the federal government.
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At the Commission meeting last week, county transportation director Terry Rowe informed the commission that five buses paid for out of federal stimulus dollars are slated to come into the county soon. “We already have a place for them,” Rowe said.
Rowe also said St. Clair Area Transport will be replacing three buses “badly in need” of being rotated out of service. Vehicles donated from The Ark of St. Clair will replace two of the buses.
SCAT functions out of three core budgets: an administrative budget ($164,860); an operational assistance budget ($7,999) and a capitol budget ($153,600). The majority of those budgets are federally funded.
Commissioner Paul Manning said, “We’re very interested in public transportation. We feel deeply that it’s going to turn into a positive for our county.”
Rowe has said with each month, the program grows and riders need only to call ahead to schedule a pickup; though special pickups are done on a first-come-first-serve basis. SCAT also has regular pickup spots. Call 205-338-1352 for more information.
Tax dollars at work
* The St. Clair Sheriff’s Department will hire one new, full-time deputy with their salary paid through the pistol permit funds until Oct. 1, when the county will pick up the cost of the employee.
* The county has agreed to put $9,300 toward a resurfacing project in Steele, with the town putting forth $39,155 for their cost of the project.
* A $32,000 mulcher will be bid out. The mulcher already is needed for one project. and renting one would cost $9,000, or a third of the total price for a new one.
* The county will resurface Aradon Farm Sector 4 with the developer paying 100 percent of the cost. The work will be done when the engineering department has an opening in its schedule, which may be months away.
* St. Clair has entered into an agreement to obtain LiDAR digital mapping of the area; splitting the costs of fuel and equipment used in the aerial survey with Talladega and Calhoun counties.
* Shoal Creek Volunteer Fire Department has permission to purchase equipment on a tax exempt basis.
* The county received $45,293 from an Emergency Management Performance grant.
* Approve for prospective multiple-use property to be purchased in Odenville for $500.