MONTICELLO – Business development opportunities in Sullivan County, including the Casino World Catskills facility to open next spring and other projects under construction or on the drawing boards are presenting a potential new dilemma – how to get the employees to the workplace.
The county has no mass transit so the county legislature has approved spending $30,000 to provide up to five vans and a lease subsidy to county residents looking to vanpool with seven to15 other commuters to local jobs.
The vanpool would afford workers at the same business or in close proximity to each other, to share part of the cost with the county providing a $500-per-month-per-van pre-tax subsidy.
County Workforce Development Director Laura Quigley said the businesses she has spoken to have expressed interest in the program.
Over the years some employers have tried to see if they could get something going, some version of this, not quite a vanpool,” Quigley said. “There is a lot of interest, especially from our larger employers.”
The vehicles will be leased from Enterprise car rental, which has an office in Monticello. The lease will cover the insurance and repairs. The vanpoolers would just be responsible for gas and costs above the $500-per-month van subsidy from the county.
