Rainbow Rider building new bus garage with mechanic service bay and more storage

By Melanie Stegner

news@pctribune.com

The Pope County Commissioners head to the Association of Minnesota County’s conference in St. Paul this week, so discussion at last week’s committee of the whole meeting revolved around the county’s legislative priorities. 

County program aid tops the list again this year. Counties administer a variety of mandates on behalf of the state. Some are fully funded and some are not. As time has gone on, the programs have expanded adding additional work and higher costs increasing the burden for property taxpayers, it was stated at the meeting.  The AMC plans to urge Minnesota lawmakers to provide a significant infusion of new aid to address funding shortages, keep pace with inflation and strengthen the state/county partnership.  (See related story on local government aid discussion at Minnesota House committee.)  

Transportation funding also made the list. The most recent solicitation for the Local Road Improvement Program received 425 applications totaling $344 million in requests, leaving county residents to pick up the slack. 

Solid Waste Management is a big topic. Currently 30 percent of the waste taxes collected are diverted to the general fund for other purposes in the state and the level of funding sent back to counties has remained stagnant. 

County Based Purchasing was brought up again for this year as the MN Department of Health and Human Services continues to push for an alternative model of healthcare coverage.

Although Pope County is nearing 100 percent broadband coverage, the commissioners agreed it is important for this to work statewide. 

Officials from Rainbow Rider attended the meeting to give an update on some usage statistics and the status of the transportation organization. Currently Rainbow Rider runs in seven counties. Pope County has three buses dedicated to community needs. One does routes in the city of Glenwood and two do routes in Glenwood and Starbuck. Pope County is a dial-a-ride service, so people call and set up a ride for a specific time. Typically, this requires some advance notice.

The Rainbow Rider organization is in the process of building a new bus garage that will have more storage space, a mechanic service bay and some offices for operational functions. Dispatch will continue to run out of Lowry.

The Minnesota Department of Transportation (MnDOT) pays 80 percent of Rainbow Rider’s capital and 85 percent of their operational costs.

The bus service has an average of nearly three rides per hour in Pope County. In the month of January 2023 Rainbow Rider gave 1,465 rides in the county. It’s a necessary service, it was stated by commissioners.

Following the discussions, the commissioners called the meeting to a close. The next meeting will be held on Tuesday, February 21.