West Central Mass Transit’s Safe Ride program is getting a boost from Jacksonville aldermen following last night’s City Council meeting.
Among the resolutions approved by the City Council last night was the payment of $10,000 to West Central Mass Transit’s Safe Ride program.
Various fundraising events such as the Don’s Place Chili Cook Off and the upcoming Wing Ding are in the process of raising the $24,000 needed to get Safe Ride up and running again.
Alderwoman Marcy Patterson says it’ll be a positive thing for everyone in the city if Safe Ride is operational again..
“We can’t mandate, obviously, whether or not people go out and drink, but if we have an avenue available to get them back and forth safely, it’s a lot better for our police, it’s a lot better obviously for the citizens in our community. It’s pretty easy to spend minimal money, because Mr. Kindred is trying to match that money, he’s doing fundraising, they didn’t come to the city for a hand out. They’re doing their thing and we just offered to be on board and help them a little bit,” says Patterson.
Also at last night’s meeting, Phil McCarty with the Morgan County Emergency Management presented his organization’s new mobile app.
McCarty explains the various advantages the app provides in the case of a disaster.
“It’s not just for mass notifications, but people can download this app for free from Android or Apple, and get emergency preparedness as well as mass notification information. It’s connected directly connected to the National Weather Service and it will alert your phone in the case that there is a warning or alert in the Morgan County area,” says McCarty.
Other items approved by the City Council was the granting of a liquor license to Best Buffet in Jacksonville, as well as several items pertaining to new equipment for various city departments.