Politics & Government
Macomb Academy Riders Can Expect to Begin Using SMART Nov. 1
Macomb Township Parks and Recreation will take over operations of the SMART Dial-A-Ride program, which was previously managed by the Supervisor's office.
The 16 Macomb Academy students living in Macomb Township will be able to use SMART (Suburban Mobile Authority for Regional Transportation) to travel to and from school beginning Nov. 1.
At the Oct. 10 Board of Trustees meeting, that target date was set to begin offering SMART services to the special-needs adult students, who attend class at the Clinton Township school.
The deadline marks yet another step in the changes being made to the SMART program, including the transfer of the program from the Supervisor’s office to Parks and Recreation Department. The change is due to the number of additions needed to expand the program.
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A committee made up of trustees, officials from SMART, as well as Parks and Recreation Department employees met to determine what the program needs to get on the road, including:
- Moving the SMART program to the Marvin Blank Senior Center. SMART operations, the call center and the busses would be housed at the new location.
- Hiring a part-time scheduler, dispatcher, and four part-time drivers. These positions will be hired by and report to Parks and Recreation.
- Hire a coordinator, who will report to SMART and the township’s finance department.
- Parks and Recreation will control hours of operation, guidelines, and policy/procedures for the Dial-A-Ride program.
Paperwork, including the community credit contract for the fiscal year 2012-13, the EEOC Report A form, the project description, and the project operating budget also needed to be completed, signed and returned to SMART.
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Trustee Janet Dunn said the Supervisor’s office has been sitting on the forms listed above since late May. “While SMART has been very lenient, this is a four-month lapse and will need to be immediately corrected before expanding our program to provide transportation for the Macomb Academy students,” she said.
Supervisor Mark Grabow said the forms were not submitted in a timely manner because the program coordinator position has been vacant.
