Struthers senior van isn't road-worthy

Staff report

STRUTHERS

The city’s senior van isn’t road-worthy, and the transportation service will remain on hiatus until a new van is obtained.

Ed Wildes, the city’s safety service director, said the van recently was inspected by the Ohio State Highway Patrol, which found a host of problems — among them, a door hanging from two hinges instead of three, a faulty emergency brake and a burned-out rear license- plate light.

Many of these problems can be fixed, Wildes said, but he’s not sure that expending the time, money and effort on a van with so many issues will be worth it.

“Naturally, they’d like to see it run, and I wish I could help them out and get a van right now, but we can’t,” Wildes said, referring to the senior citizens who rely upon the van for transportation to doctor’s appointments or to the grocery store. “They depend on that. I’m sorry it had to come to this.”

The van last ran March 13, and was pulled out of service after a March 12 public hearing to discuss the city’s applying for a new van through the Ohio Department of Transportation’s Specialized Transportation Program. The grant deadline is Friday, and the city should be notified of the outcome by July.