Special panel to study bus service for seniors

Costs of proving service will

be studied by special committee
By:Alec Moore
   The Borough Council on Monday appointed a special committee to look into the costs and need for a borough-run bus service for seniors and disabled residents.
   Councilman Martin Wierzba made a proposal to provide busing for the borough’s seniors and disabled residents at the council meeting, then called for a special subcommittee to be appointed to research the matter.
   "Senior busing in Manville is long overdue," he said. "We have seniors in town who need to get to the doctors office, they need to get to the grocery store and to the post office, they need reliable transportation. Hillsborough has its own senior busing and there’s no reason why we shouldn’t also."
   Mr. Wierzba added that he has spoken with seniors who say they are not satisfied with the county’s Ride Wise busing service.
   "There are definitely a lot of issues that we have to look into, but if we watch our spending, budget appropriately and tap into our reserves then we can definitely afford this," Mr. Wierzba said. "If we can buy a $65,000 bucket truck to hang up Christmas lights than we can afford busing for our seniors."
   Mayor Angelo Corradino said he is not opposed to the proposal, but questions whether seniors would choose a borough bus service over a $100 property tax savings.
   "(Senior busing) would be nice to have but it’s also something we would all have to pay for," he said, adding that he expects it will cost in the range of $200,000 to $250,000 in start-up costs alone.
   "We have to figure out how much this is going to cost, how we would pay for it and whether or not it would be utilized," said Mayor Corradino.
   To answer the myriad of questions regarding the proposal, Mr. Wierzba, Council President Ted Petrock and Councilwoman Senga Allan have been appointed to the special subcommittee Mr. Wierzba called for to explore those questions.
   Also to be studied are the number of buses and drivers required, demand for the service, salaries and insurance, possible routes and the total cost involved.
   Mayor Corradino said he expects the subcommittee to have completed its research by the end of April.