By Dennis Brown

Officials say they need information immediately as they prepare to begin transportation services for Lewis County residents.

Pam Shepherd, Executive Director of Federated Transportation in Lexington, said they are in the scheduling process and planning to begin service with L-Trans on April 6. She said they need people interested in utilizing the service to contact schedulers with specific information.

She said, during a Lewis County Transportation Committee meeting last week, that although several people have returned surveys and questionnaires, they should check back with information on where they need to go and what times they need to get there and back so schedules can be developed.

Those interested in the service should call 888-848-0989 and follow the prompts to talk to a person and answer specific questions so the schedule can be finalized. Scheduling will be on a first-come, first-served basis.

The program is available to all Lewis County residents needing transportation to work or to job related destinations including education and job interviews. The program is being financed through Job Access funding.

Shepherd said the two new 14 passenger buses have been delivered and that work was being done to install computer equipment along with logos and lettering. The buses are handicap accessible.

Although grants are paying for the biggest part of the project, there will be a small fee to take advantage of the transportation program. Costs to ride to destinations outside the county will likely be $2.00 each way or monthly passes will be made available at a proposed cost of $40.00. Destinations inside Lewis County will be $1.00 each way.

Federated Transportation Marketing Assistant Meredith Johns said judging from the surveys that have been returned, most

Dennis Brown/Lewis County Herald

Lewis County Transportation Committee members look over one of the two 14-passenger buses set to begin service in Lewis County early next month. Information is needed from prospective passengers before the final schedules and routes are set.

 people will be traveling to jobs in Maysville. Routes can still be set up for Portsmouth, Ohio, Morehead and Grayson areas, however.

One of the new Ford E-350 vehicles was brought to Vanceburg last week for members of the Transportation Committee to look over. Two drivers have been hired thus far and Shepherd said another driver will be needed for backup. She noted that although central locations to pick up passengers would be ideal, they will do door-to-door transportation for participants.

“Right now we just need specific information from people who will be riding and who are interested in taking advantage of the program,” Shepherd said.

She said the program is designed for transportation to job and job education related activities and to help stimulate the economy.

Committee members discussed setting up information areas around the county to distribute literature about the program and help to get more participants.

The next meeting of the Transportation Committee was set for Monday, April 20 at 10:30 a.m. at the Vanceburg Municipal Building on Second Street.

The Electric Plant Board of the City of Vanceburg met in a delayed regular session last week and members voted to refund deposits to customers who have remained current on their bills for at least 18 months.

Superintendent Eric Bloomfield made the recommendation Tuesday evening noting that a policy is in place to refund utility deposits back to customers who have been in good standing for 18 consecutive months, but that a plan by the utility company has not been put into place to periodically review and issue refunds. Customers have been getting refunds if they have requested them.

Bloomfield said the company is holding about $100,000 in such deposits that he expects to begin refunding to customers shortly. He said the refunds will also help to stimulate the local economy by making the money available to area residents.

The board also noted that regular reviews of records will ensure customers who have kept current with payments will be refunded the deposits made when they applied for utility service.

The board also approved the implementation of a new system which will determine deposit amounts for new customers and help to reduce the number of customers who move out of the service are while still owing money to the utility company.

The web based system will allow the utility company to enter information on a new customer and the information will be

reviewed and compared with other utility companies as well as a review of the applicant’s credit history. The deposit, which will range from zero to $500, will then be determined by the system. In addition the board authorized utilizing the same system to aid in collections for customers who have outstanding unpaid bills with the utility company.

The board authorized Bloomfield to apply for a $2 million grant for emergency disaster funding for the renovation to the combined sewer overflow project.

Bloomfield reported that mandatory reports had been completed in-house and filed in a timely manner resulting in savings to the utility company and its customers. He said that Catlettsburg had received a stiff fine for not having the reports submitted by the deadline.

Bloomfield also reported on the system-wide power outage on February 11 and said steps have been taken to minimize damage to the system and downtime should a similar windstorm occur. He also reported that some of the effects of the weaker economy on the utility company were fewer commercial customers and commercial demand for electricity, higher fuel costs from suppliers and an increase in the number of past due accounts.