January 20, 2009
FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
CITY EXTENDS FREE RIDES FOR DISABLED PASSENGERS, MOVES ON UNSAFE PROPERTIES
DECATUR - The Decatur City Council on Monday voted unanimously to continue providing free bus service to qualifying disabled passengers while also continuing efforts to preserve city neighborhoods by initiating the demolition process on 33 problem properties.
Recent state legislation called for all transit systems to provide free bus rides to disabled passengers who are certified through the State Department on Aging Circuit Breaker Program. The Circuit Breaker certification must be renewed annually, a process that can take six months or more, which meant that many riders who were qualified in 2008 would have lost the right to ride for free after December 31, 2008 when their certification expired.
Monday’s council action means that disabled riders who were certified at the end of 2008 will be able to continue to ride for free while obtaining Circuit Breaker certification this year. The City extended the service temporarily in early January until the Council could vote on the issue tonight.
“We wanted to avoid having disabled persons lose what in many cases is a vital service because of timing,” said City Manager Ryan McCrady. “That would not have been within the spirit of the law, which was designed to help people who are often most in need of transit assistance.”
Decatur Mass Transit Administrator Paul McChancy estimated that the department will generate about $9,000 less in total fare revenue than if the free rides were not provided during the six month extension but that not allowing the rides to continue would not fit with the city’s goal of providing superior public service. The Decatur Mass Transit System has an annual budget of about $5 million.
The council on Monday also took steps to position the city as a leader in the creation of bio-fuels while supporting its goal of protecting the city’s water supply. The council voted 5-0 in favor of providing financial support to a local bioenergy initiative promoting the growth and sale of perennial energy grasses which will reduce soil erosion and lake sedimentation, enhance water quality and provide opportunities for economic development. The plantings would also help to lessen our reliance on foreign oil.
The project — being led by Decatur’s Agricultural Watershed Institute — would encourage the planting of certain grasses which would reduce erosion and could be processed, recycled and used as fuel. The city’s investment would be matched by grants from the Lunpkin Foundation and other sources.
In other business, the council agreed informally to continue to investigate ways to increase assistance to the Decatur Celebration and voted unanimously to authorize action regarding 33 problem properties. The city estimates that it contributes just under $100,000 to the Celebration each year in the form of cleanup, direct policing and other costs associated with putting on the festival. Authorizing action on unsafe structures represents the second step in the demolition process after posting a structure as being unfit.
For more information contact Billy Tyus at 424-2753.