Transit Bus Repaired, but Another Out-of-Service

By Jonathan Weaver

While one Town and Country Transit vehicle returned to the road yesterday, another is sitting in the North Grant Street garage.

In mid-January, the wheelchair ramp to Bus 51 was run over by another vehicle during a stop in East Franklin Township, causing about $7,000 worth of damage.

That vehicle is now repaired, but transit leaders now have another out-of-service.

Bus 46 – a 2012 vehicle acquired through grant funding - sits in the garage with possible-transmission problems.

Operations Manager Gerry Miller was also concerned since the vehicle is not under-warranty.

Each of the five municipalities in attendance – East Franklin Township, Ford City Borough, Manorville Borough, Manor Township and Kittanning Borough – received estimates of their 2014-2015 fiscal year “local match” contribution during their monthly meeting yesterday (which was rescheduled due to a lack of quorum at the regularly-scheduled time Wednesday).

According to state legislation, a “local match” must be collected by each municipality to receive funding for fixed-route service. According to General Manager Patti Lynn Baker, the “local match” rises a minimum of five percent each year.

“That leverages about $597,000 (in PennDOT funding) – and it is actually going up just a little bit next year. We don’t have exact numbers on that,” Baker said.

Municipality directors are to take financial figures back to their elected boards for discussion. Payment can be dispersed throughout the year, but must be paid by June 30, 2015

Solicitor David Lint explained the procedure in the Pennsylvania Municipality Authorities Act if any municipalities wanted to join or disband from the transit agency. If more municipalities joined the authority, it would leverage more PennDOT reimbursement.

“The question has come up several times over the course of the years that I’ve been here in regards to jointure and withdrawal from the Authority – it came up in our meeting yesterday as a matter of discussion and this is the section of the law that outlines what must be done in order to join or withdraw from the Authority,” Lint said.

Lint explained that any attempt to join or withdraw must be done via ordinance or resolution. If accepted by Town and Country Transit, notice must be published in the county legal journal and a local newspaper at least once followed within three days with an application submitted to the Secretary of the Commonwealth (currently Carol Aichele – formerly a county commissioner in Chester County).

“And it has to be joined by all of the officers of the governing body of the authority – in other words, all of the officers (in Town and Country Transit) have to sign off on that application and each governing board of each of your municipalities also has to sign off on the application,” Lint added.

Ford Cliff Borough, who has not attended or paid toward the “local match” as required for several years, reportedly did not want to follow that procedure to formally withdraw from the transit authority. Fixed-route bus service no longer runs through the municipality.

Shared-ride service for medical trips and elderly residents still exists there, but is available throughout the county.

Ford Cliff can also not withdraw since Town and Country Transit has incurred debt.

Manor Township was the latest municipality to join, in 1999. The other municipalities were founding members in 1975

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