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Sicamous council supports application for electric vehicle funding

Eagle Valley Transportation Society seeks $25,000 through CSRD fund
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The Eagle Valley Transportation Society may receive a lift itself in the form of $25,000 in grant funding for the purchase of an electric car.

Purchasing an electric vehicle has been part of the Eagle Valley Transportation Society (EVTS) vision since before the group’s inception, when a steering committee of volunteers was looking to provide Sicamous residents with a transportation option otherwise unavailable in the community.

The organization has made different grant and funding applications to build up the $50,000 needed for the purchase. To date, they have about half this amount, but that may soon change.

Related:Volunteer drivers giving Sicamous a lift

At last week’s council meeting, Sicamous council voted in support of an application by the EVTS to the Columbia Shuswap Regional District for $25,000 from the Sicamous and Area E Economic Opportunity Fund. (Coun. Malcolm Makayev, the EVTS president, was absent for the meeting and did not participate in the council vote).

In a letter accompanying the EVTS application, CSRD Financial Services Manager Jodi Pierce says she spoke with Makayev, who presented a “strong case for the economic benefit in keeping seniors in their rural homes and providing transportation to urban facilities,” and, subsequently, she now believes the application offers an “enduring economic benefit to the community.”

District of Sicamous council voted to support the application request to the CSRD.

In the application, it is noted 82 is the average age of people currently utilizing EVTS’ services, run with the assistance of volunteers using their own vehicles.

“With no current taxi company in Sicamous, and with Greyhound shutting down in Sicamous, our service will probably be utilized to its maximum capacity,” states Makayev in the application.


@SalmonArm
jim.elliot@saobserver.net

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