Jane Osborn asked me 6 Jan 2011:

Here are the notices about public transportation that was supposed to
be done some time ago. I am trying to figure out how the county will
compensate private providers for all this transportation.

Good question.
I can’t answer it, but maybe I can point at some related information
that might help.

She was referring to two public notices in the VDT of that same day,
Exhibit 8B,
which is about the MIDS service,


which is one of the ones in the list in
Exhibit 8A.
If you call MIDS, a small van will pick you up and deliver you,
all for a flat fee, if I understand it correctly. It’s the closest
thing we have to a bus system around here.

It looks like MIDS comes up for renewal about every two years, according to the agendas:

23 June 2009

e. Section 5311 Rural Transportation Program Supplemental Agreement

Section 5311 Rural Transportation Program Supplemental
Agreement, County Engineer, Mike Fletcher, presented the
agreement, explaining that the agreement was due to a realignment
in federal funding and would not result in any cost to the county.
Vice Chairperson Evans made a motion to approve the agreement,
Commissioner Lee second. Motion carried.

27 October 2009

6.e. Section 5311 Rural Transportation Program Stimulus Contract

Section 5311 Rural Transportation Program Stimulus Contract, County
Engineer, Mike Fletcher, presented the contract. Commissioner Lee made
a motion to approve the contract and accept stimulus funding in the
amount of $68,600.00, at no cost to the county, Commissioner Evans
second. Motion carried.

11 July 2011,
12 July 2011

7.a. Section 5311 Rural Transportation Program Operating Contracts

10-11 October 2011

8.b. Section 5311 Rural Transportation Program Capital Contract

7 November 2011

7.a. Section 5311 Rural Transportation Program Drug and Alcohol
Testing Policy

It may have come up more times than that; that’s just what I found
with a quick look through old agendas.
There may be further information in the various minutes.
Imagine what you could find if the county posted
its agendas and minutes on the web in HTML so they’d be easily searchable!
At least they do post them in PDF, which is more than most local
appointed boards do.

All those contracts and policies presumable are also public records,
retrievable through open records requests. I would hope some
of the contracts would have the specifics on compensation you seek.

Exhibit 8B
says you can ask for a public hearing if you want to
say something to the Commission about it.

Commissioner Joyce Evans claims credit for getting the MIDS system working,
so she probably knows everything there is to know about it.

-jsq

PS: Appended are the two notices,
EXHIBIT 8A
and
EXHIBIT 8B
which I found on

the VDT’s online public notice search thing,
category miscellaneous,
keyword transportation.
The county’s own web pages have a link for Public Notices,
but none of this kind of public notice is included there.

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EXHIBIT 8A

PRIVATE ENTERPRISE

COORDINATION

CERTIFICATION

List of private providers operating in the service area:

Five Star Taxi

244-TAXI

MIDS, Inc.

Azalea City Cab Company

AA Superior Transportation Taxi

Azalea City Limousine Service

Prestige Transportation

1 800 Limo Now

5 Star Limousine Service

H.L. Brown Limo Service

Super Suds Limo Service

All Star Limousine

Airport Express LLC

Pearl Executive Shuttle

Apex Limousine

Regional Emergency Medical Services

Checker Cab

Legacy Coaches

Executive Travel Services

Date Notified: January 6th, 2012

Attach Notice and Affidavit from newspaper or letter sent to private
providers.

Last Day to Respond: January 24th, 2012

Lowndes County will annually review existing service and any
proposed service changes to determine the feasibility of private
providers providing the public service. An annual review will be
scheduled and a review format will be developed to carry out this
task. Private providers will be notified and their interest in the
service provision will be assessed. Private providers will be
invited to attend and be a part of the annual review process.

Date: January 24th, 2012

Signature of Authorized Officer

Ashley Paulk, Chairman

Name and Title

of Authorized Officer

00021285

01/06/12

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EXHIBIT 8B

NOTICE OF OPPORTUNITY

FOR A PUBLIC HEARING

PRIVATE ENTERPRISE

COORDINATION RURAL PUBLIC TRANSPORTATION PROGRAM

Lowndes County is applying for funding assistance under Title 49
U.S.C. Section 5311 of the Federal Transit Act pertaining to rural
and small urban areas.

Lowndes County will offer general public transportation to all
citizens of Lowndes County for any worthwhile purpose, including but
not limited to shopping, medical treatment, social services and
other purposes.

Lowndes County solicits private sector input and participation to
assure that private for-profit transportation operators have a fair
and timely opportunity to participate in the development of this
program.

Lowndes County also solicits comments and concerns from the general
population on local rural public transportation services.

Lowndes County also solicits comments and concerns from the disabled
population and their representatives to assure that issues relating
to the disabled are addressed in the service design proposed during
the planning process.

Interested persons are invited to request that a public hearing be
held to discuss the services being offered or development of the
application.

Written comments, requests for a public hearing and/or written
notice of intent by private for-profit transportation operators to
provide or participate in any or all of the above services should be
submitted no later than fifteen (15) days from the date of this
publication to:

Ashley Paulk

Lowndes County Board

of Commissioners

327 N. Ashley Street

Valdosta, GA 31601

229-671-2400

If no response is received within the fifteen (15) days, the
Department of Transportation will proceed with the application.

00021286

01/06/12

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