Frank Phillips / DLC Media News
BRAZIL — On Wednesday the Brazil City Council granted the Senior Citizens of Clay County request for $6,000 to run the bus that transports seniors in any community in Clay County to doctor appointments or other destinations.
If a senior citizen wants to go somewhere within Brazil, the suggested donation is $5, “but if they don’t have it we’re not going to refuse to take them,” said Bob DeCamp who has served as bus driver for many years.
City Council member Karen Boes asked, “With costs going up, will $6,000 be sufficient?”
DeCamp said the service is struggling but, “I don’t want to be greedy.”
He said he thought the County Council had appropriated $8,600 and so did the County Commissioners to whom he spoke but when the contract arrived it was for $4,300 and that was the amount the bus service has received from the county.
Councilman Shane Litz asked if DeCamp had approached the County Council about the matter and offered to go with DeCamp to a meeting he wants to attend.
Thje bus service is partially supported by THRIVE West Central, DeCamp said. He has been writing grants to other organizations on behalf of the bus service but with little response.
“There is a lot of money out there for everything but operating expenses,” DeCamp said.
A grant from INDOT will buy a new bus to replace the current bus which has seen many miles of service. However, Ford is no longer building the F350 chassis, DeCamp said, and until it does, there will be no new bus.
The senior bus service serves various communities in Clay County including Clay City, Carbon and Knightsville. Most riders want to go to doctor appointments in Terre Haute, DeCamp said.
Councilman Brad Deal asked how many people in other communities outside of Brazil ride the bus. DeCamp said there were two or three in Clay City who call for a ride.
In other business to come before the city council, Mayor Brian Wyndham said the city learned today that the Community Crossings Grant will total $227,842 and will be used to pave Pinckley Street and put in new sidewalks.
Pinckley Street was last paved in 2011, city attorney Traci Orman said at the Board of Works meeting on Wednesday morning.