ITEM TITLE:
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#21-21 - Supporting the 2021-2025 Valdez Senior Center, Inc. Coordinated Community Transportation Plan
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SUBMITTED BY: Allie Ferko, MMC, Deputy City Clerk
FISCAL NOTES:
Expenditure Required: N/A
Unencumbered Balance: N/A
Funding Source: N/A
RECOMMENDATION:
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Approve Resolution # 21-21
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SUMMARY STATEMENT:
Ms. Deborah Plant, executive director of Valdez Senior Center, provides the following information for your consideration.
On December 15, 2015, City Council approved the 2016 Community Transportation Plan. This plan will expire on June 30, 2021. The 2016 plan included Connecting Ties as the lead transportation provider in the community.
A copy of the old 2016 plan and the new 2021 plan are attached for Council reference.
Background: Connecting Ties dispatched what is called "purchase of service" rides in the community. Eligible senior citizens and persons with disabilities were able to buy vouchers for $4. The vouchers could be used to purchase service (transportation rides) from the local cab company or from Connecting Ties. Connecting Ties was also the recipient of a matching grant to manage these services. This is a very brief description of the complicated nature of the program.
In 2016, Connecting Ties opted to discontinue managing transportation services in Valdez and focused solely on providing services to their clientele - persons with developmental disabilities. This left a significant gap in the transportation services available to senior citizens and persons with disabilities.
Almost five years ago, Valdez Senior Center, Inc. stepped in as the lead agency to fill some of this gap, working with the Alaska Department of Transportation (ADOT). Rides are provided through "reservations" Monday through Friday during normal business hours and enables seniors and persons with disabilities to conduct activities of daily living which require transportation (e.g., grocery shopping, picking up medication, doctor visits, pic...
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