Cottonwood City Council approved a motion to apply for grant funding of the operations of Cottonwood Area Transit and Verde Lynx during a regular meeting on Tuesday, Feb. 6.
The grant must be applied through the 5311 Rural Public Transportation Program, which addresses mobility needs in rural areas in Arizona.The Federal Transit Administration allocates federal funds annually to provide funding for administrative operating and capital costs of the public transit system.
CAT Transportation Manager Bruce Morrow said the grants are matching and the city is on the hook for approximately 50 percent of operating funds and 20 percent of administrative funds.
“We also contract with Clarkdale and Sedona and Yavapai County, who also provide local matching funds,” he said. “We do provide service to Clarkdale, Sedona and unincorporated areas in Yavapai County … so we ask them to provide funding for our services.”
Cottonwood Mayor Tim Elinski said the CAT and Lynx are a tremendous benefit to the community. Morrow said if current trends continue, CAT and Lynx will transport close to 170,000 people by the end of the fiscal year.
Also approved was releasing the request for proposals for the Cottonwood Building Community Grant program. The purpose of the program is to provide an application process for organizations providing services to apply for funding from the city.
Council later went into executive session to evaluate City Manager Doug Bartosh’s contract. They reconvened to approve his contract with a 4 percent merit increase with dissenting votes from Elinski and Councilman Ruben Jaurequ.
Kelcie Grega can be reached at 634-8551, or email kgrega@larsonnewspapers.com
