Officials plan to vote on funding for transit system

The $151,000 was the county's promised share of the system's 2006 funding.
By ED RUNYAN
VINDICATOR TRUMBULL STAFF
WARREN -- Following a contentious week of negotiations, Trumbull County Commissioner Paul Heltzel came to an agreement with Niles officials that may pave the way for approving a funding request of $151,000 for the Niles-Trumbull Transit System.
Heltzel sat down with Niles Mayor Ralph Infante and City Engineer Mark Hess on Friday, and the two provided Heltzel with the facts about the system that he wanted, Heltzel said.
"As far as I'm concerned, it's ready to go on the agenda," Heltzel said of the recommendation made last week by the Senior Citizens Advisory Council that the money be taken from the levy money approved by voters last November for senior citizen services and given to NTTS.
The city of Niles, which fronts the money to NTTS, has sought the funding to keep the system running. Infante has said the $151,000 was the county's promised share of the system's funding for 2006 and the county needed to pay it by the end of the year or he would shut down NTTS.
The system comprises member communities Niles, Liberty, Cortland, Howland, Vienna and McDonald. Ridership is between 18,000 and 20,000 annually with seniors and the handicapped making up nearly all of the riders, according to Niles figures.
Riders in these communities pay $2 for a one-way ride, while those in nonmember communities pay $4 each way. The service is door-to-door.
Advisory council
The advisory council took up the matter in recent months but could not agree to recommend the funding from the seniors levy money during a vote June 21. On July 19, the council voted again and this time did recommend the funding.
But before the vote was taken, Heltzel criticized the analysis done by Tom Harwood, chairman of the council's transportation committee, for not going far enough. Heltzel said he needed data showing the cost per trip for NTTS and wanted that compared with similar costs for rides provided by the county's Office of Elderly Affairs.
On Wednesday, members of the advisory council attended the commissioners regular weekly meeting hoping that their recommendation would be on the agenda, but it was not. Heltzel said he would not support the measure until more analysis had been done.
On Thursday, County Administrator Tony Carson Jr. resigned, effective immediately, apparently over a request Heltzel gave Carson to do some research on NTTS.
Heltzel's questions were answered Friday, the commissioner said. Subject to agreement with the other two commissioners, Heltzel said he believes the measure should be on the agenda in the coming week. Commissioner Dan Polivka said he was in favor of the measure.
And Infante says that should be plenty early enough to keep the service up and running. Though Harwood had said earlier that the deadline for approving the funding was Monday, Infante said the real deadline is Dec. 31.
Infante said the other deadline coming up is in November, when the city needs to know what amount of money will be coming from the seniors levy or other county funds to run the transportation system in 2007.
runyan@vindy.com