The Morris Town Council decided to pay a $150-a-month fee to ClasTran para-transit service, in hopes that it will be enough to sustain bus service to and from the town’s senior center.

The non-profit organization had originally asked for $4,000 for the year from the town. After working with Morris Town Council and Mayor Craig Drummonds, ClasTran agreed to continue service, at least temporarily, for $150 a month.

“ClasTran had actually already stopped running the bus around Dec. 22, but fortunately it was stopped during a time when the senior center was closed down for the holidays, anyway,” said Drummonds. ClasTran will resume service to Morris on Jan. 3.

Drummonds said ClasTran told the council that $400 a month would guarantee continued service; bus service could still disappear with only $150 a month. Drummonds said the town plans to steadily increase the amount it pays to ClasTran as the town’s economy improves.

The Morris Senior Center has access to a van that could possibly serve in place of the bus service, but it isn’t handicapped accessible.

“If we drive our own bus, we’re going to spend at least $150 in fuel, anyway,” said Drummonds.

Kristi Blankenship, the senior center’s new director, said the senior center needs at least 25 members to attend the center in order for the facility to receive funding from Jefferson County, and that about 10 of the members are brought to the center each weekday by ClasTran. If the center loses those 10 members, the charter could drop below 25 members. The the center might have to close if it loses its funding.

“We have one woman who comes that has to get around in a scooter, and we can’t pick her up in the van we have here,” said Blankenship prior to the council’s decision. “The seniors have to stay home a lot, and they need the activity the center can provide for them.”

Blankenship said another important function of the senior center is providing one hot meal a day, funded by the county, which the bus riders might not get otherwise.

“If there’s any seniors that have nothing to do, then they should come to the center. It’ll help keep our centers open,” said Blankenship. “Don’t be shy.”

ClasTran is a non-profit organization that operates with a $2.8 million federal grant. To keep receiving the grant, ClasTran must match 28 percent, or about $750,000, of the federal funds with local money.

The organization was counting on about $243,000 in emergency funding, needed because of a funding shortfall from the county and from the city of Birmingham. Birmingham Mayor William Bell originally denied a resolution by the Birmingham City Council to provide ClasTran the emergency funds on the grounds that he felt it was a county problem, but eventually suggested that the city pay half of the money.  

The Jefferson County Commission, which took office last month, has yet to make a decision on including ClasTran in the city’s budget for next year.

Drummonds said he didn’t feel Bell or the Birmingham City Council had a responsibility to consider Morris when making their decisions.

“We’re tied more to Gardendale than Birmingham, and as long as Gardendale gets ClasTran service, I think we’ll be OK,” he said. “The reason we get great ambulance service is because of Gardendale.”

This isn’t the first time ClasTran has had to shut down routes in Jefferson County. In 2009, 15 routes were stopped because of budget cuts, although they were eventually restored in October of the same year, and six new routes, including the one to Morris, were added.

In addition to elderly passengers, ClasTran also transports disabled people and dialysis patients. The dialysis patients pay a $4 bus fare, but the other passengers ride free of charge.