Title
Discuss and consider action to use reserve funds to purchase a replacement bus with lift for senior center use and other city use as needed.
Summary
Through the Community Development Block Grant Program (CDBG) budget discussions, public input and public hearings, the City received numerous requests from our senior population for a new bus.
The Parks & Recreation Department has a Senior Program that includes numerous trips (over 50 in FY 2015) that require buses for transportation. A majority of these are day trips and the program uses city owned buses for them. Examples of these trips are twice monthly country music shows in places like Bastrop and Giddings, theater outings to Georgetown, Round Rock and Austin and excursions to San Antonio, Gruene, Fredericksburg and Salado for various activities.
The Parks & Recreation Department has two (2) buses currently in its vehicle inventory. One known as the Senior Bus is a 2003 Ford Goshen GC11 Coach and the other is the Pfun Camp Bus, which is a 2009 Bluebird school-type bus. Neither of these adequately meet the need of the senior program for several reasons. The Senior Bus has a wheelchair lift and seating area for one wheelchair, but only has seating capacity for twenty-four people. The Pfun Camp Bus has seating capacity for fifty-four people, but does not have a wheelchair lift and associated seating area. Many times the demand for individual trips is greater than the capacity of the Senior Bus. We can use the Pfun Camp Bus, when not being used for Camp, as long as we do not have a senior member that requires the wheelchair lift. If we do have a member that wants to go on the trip that needs a lift, we make a reasonable accommodation as required by the Americans with Disabilities Act (ADA) and limit the overall number of participants to the capacity of the Senior Bus. This situation has become more common as the popularity of our senior program has increased in the past year.
The Senior Bus has also reached the end of its useful life and needs to be replaced. We continually have complaints about the vehicle's A/C not being adequate, the roof leaks substantially and the upholstery is tattered and worn.
The Parks & Recreation Department also uses both buses for Pfun Camp. For that program, transportation is the biggest limiting factor. Increased bus capacity would allow that program to grow as well.
City staff spent a considerable amount of time working with representatives from the U.S. Housing and Urban Development Department (HUD) in the hopes that a new bus was something that could be purchased using Community Development Block Grant (CDBG) funds. Due to several factors like age requirement, only 62+, and type of use, it was determined that CDBG is not an appropriate funding source.
Staff recommends replacing the Senior Bus with a larger coach that better fits the needs of the senior and other programs offered by the Parks & Recreation Department. The amount of $150,000.00 will cover a forty passenger, 36 regular and 2 wheelchair or 40 regular, coach with a lift. Staff has identified a vendor that offers buses that fit our needs, is on the Houston-Galveston Area Council (HGAC) purchasing cooperative and has current inventory available. If we have any special requirements not met by current inventory, a coach can be built in sixty (60) days.
Attached is information on the proposed bus.
Deadline for City Council Action
N/A
Fiscal Impact
$150,000.00 that will be paid from the project reserve account. The current list of the project reserve account, including the proposed bus, is attached.
Staff Recommendation
Use reserve funds to purchase a bus with lift for senior center use and other city use as needed.
Drafter
Brandon Wade
City Manager