New Struthers van a hit

Staff report

STRUTHERS

Annie Sabel, 79, says she’s been using the Struthers van service for decades.

She was one of several residents of the Struthers Manor apartments on Poland Avenue to tour the interior of the city’s newest senior van Wednesday afternoon, and she was pleased with what she saw.

“It’s just beautiful,” she said.

In recent years, technical difficulties and funding challenges stopped the van service. The transportation service is now back in business, however, with a new van expected to hit the Struthers streets next week.

The van, which seats 12, with room for two additional passengers in wheelchairs, cost $49,646, with $39,716 coming from an Ohio Department of Transportation grant. The city paid the remaining $9,930.

To satisfy grant requirements, the van must run at least five hours a day, five days a week and travel at least 10,000 miles a year.

Eighty residents have already signed up to use the van, city officials said, which caters to the elderly and disabled.

The van’s driver will be certified in first aid and cardiopulmonary resuscitation, the city said.

The new air-conditioned vehicle replaces a van purchased for the city in 1997.

Audrey McKnight, a 78-year-old Struthers Manor resident, said, “We really need this van. How else will we get to the grocery store or the doctor?”