Commission approves FTA grant filing and votes emergency local support for Senior Resource Association

The Board of County Commissioners unanimously approved a resolution on June 16 to file the county’s FY2026 Federal Transit Administration grant application seeking roughly $7.7 million for capital and operating assistance for the Goal Line public transit system.

Brian Freeman, staff director for the Indian River County Metropolitan Planning Organization, laid out the grant components: roughly $4.7 million for capital (bus replacements, shelters, equipment and transit facility expansion) and about $3.0 million for operating assistance, with most federal capital costs matched through toll‑revenue credits and state/local matching for operating funds. Freeman highlighted the Goal Line’s ridership growth (from ~250,000 annually two decades ago to more than 1.5 million most recently) and low operating cost per passenger compared with statewide systems.

Separately, the board added an emergency county‑administrator matter to address a shortfall at the Senior Resource Association (SRA). Administrator Tikhonich explained SRA projects a gap of about $263,000 in the current fiscal year driven by fuel costs and timing of an FDOT block grant. Karen Deagle, president of SRA, asked the board to provide the additional local operating support; the board moved and unanimously approved the emergency funding request.

The FTA grant resolution and the emergency local support for SRA were separate votes; both measures passed without dissent. The grant filing enables staff to pursue federal capital and operating grants for Goal Line buses and facilities; the SRA support addresses an immediate operating gap for the contractor that runs the county’s paratransit/senior service under contract.