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During the March 5 Troup County Board of Commissioners meeting, the county approved the purchase of a new bus for Troup Transit using a Georgia Department of Transportation (GDOT) grant and local reserve transit funds.

Troup Transit requested permission to purchase a 14-passenger ADA-accessible Chevrolet van with a rear lift for $113,994.

Transit Coordinator Corey Dunn said the new bus is unique in that it will be the highest-capacity vehicle in their fleet with room for 14 passengers. The vehicle can accommodate up to two wheelchairs and has 12 fixed passenger seats.

“We only have one bus that has 13 seats and the rest have 10 seats with a wheelchair lift, so this could be used for small group trips for the Active Life and higher capacity routes,” Dunn said.

The bus will be paid for using $61,049 in GDOT grant funds and $52,945 from the Transit Reserve Account.

County Manager Eric Mosley said that the purchase was recommended by GDOT to prevent excess reserve funds.

“We are required by GDOT to only have a certain number of dollars in our surplus account. They recommended that this would be an excellent expenditure for that account,” Mosley said. “The ability to transport more is certainly a desire for Troup Transit as well as our citizens.”

Dunn said wheelchair access is mostly needed for the public.

“The senior center doesn’t have many wheelchairs, but Pathways does. They go daily and for the public usually one or two per day,” Dunn said.

Mosley noted they are also considering utilizing additional transit reserve funds to update the graphics and logos on the Troup Transit vans because they look very similar to other generic transit vans throughout Georgia.

In other business, the Board of Commissioners:

4  Approved a request from the solicitor’s office to accept a Georgia County Internship Program (GCIP) grant to pay for a DUI Court Internship position. The grant funds an internship position for 200 hours at $15 per hour.

4  Approved a request from the LaGrange-Callaway Airport to accept a GDOT grant for the design for the rehabilitation of taxiway alpha and replacement of the taxiway lighting system for taxiway alpha for $202,502.

4 Approved a request from the Troup County Fire Department to apply for the Heart of West Georgia Automatic External Defibrillator (AED) Grant. This funding will be used for the purchase of two AEDs to be assigned to the Deputy Fire Chief and Captain/Training Officer’s vehicles.

4 Approved a request from the Troup County Sheriff’s Office to apply for funding from the GEMA/Homeland Security Grant Program in the amount of $4,800 for an equipment/facility upgrade for maintenance of their K9. The total grant request includes the purchase and installation of a pet washing station.

4 Approved a Special Use permit to operate a short-term vacation rental business on a single-acre parcel zoned Lakeside Residential (LR) at 73 Post Oak Drive. The property was previously permitted to operate a short-term vacation rental business but has a new owner.