Harvey County entities have been meeting to talk about a transportation planning grant. That’s what North Newton City Administrator Kyle Fiedler told North Newton City Council members during their regular Monday night meeting this week at City Hall. Those entities include North Newton, Newton, Harvey County, Bethel College, USD-373, NMC Health, Prairie View, United Way, Chamber of Commerce, housing authorities and several others. “The plan would help identify options for transportation in Newton and North Newton,” Fiedler said. “Options could include a fixed schedule route that a bus runs through both communities or an on-demand service, where a person requests a ride and the vehicle drives to their location to pick them up.” Following some discussion, the council voted 5-0 to move forward to apply for the grant. Fiedler told the council some Bethel College students have difficulty finding transportation options, and Bethel College thought they’d benefit from having a transportation service in the community. “I’ve kind of kept this in the back of my mind, saw this opportunity, reached out to Bethel, Newton, Harvey County and some other partners to potentially submit a grant for planning,” Fiedler said. No one really jumped at the opportunity, saying no one has the time to put in an extra five or 10 hours per week to coordinate the planning. Since Fiedler isn’t full time, he said he could pick up those 10 hours and that the grant would cover those additional hours.
Source: Harvey County Now
