VALENTINE, Neb. - The Valentine City Council has approved $38,000 in funding over the next two years to the public transit service Open Plains Transit (OPT). The council had previously approved $47,448 contingent on matches from the Cherry County Commission and Cherry County Hospital. However, the commission didn’t approve the funding request citing concerns over financial transparency and service stability. The public transportation service had previously shut down for around eight weeks after OPT Director of Transportation Jonnie Kusek said it didn’t get reimbursement from NDOT and government transportation funds.

At Thursday night’s council meeting, Kusek said the service was able to lower the city’s share by reducing staffing hours and eliminating IT services.

“What would happen if the county and hospital now say no?” asked City Manager Shane Siewert.

“We won’t leave our passengers,” said Kusek. “We can provide service without the county pitching in. We have other local match dollars that we’re going after.”

Kusek said that it costs roughly $1,000 per day to operate in Valentine. Some council members questioned whether OPT could decrease costs by running just one bus, not two.

“We need two buses for in-town minimum. You have to have equivalent services all the time,” said Kusek. “There’s nothing worse than having all your vehicles down, and you can’t get anyone to chemotherapy or essential services.”

“It’s ten minutes across town,” said Valentine City Council member Neil Wescott. “To me, you have to redo your scheduling or something.”

Despite concerns, the council voted 4-1 to approve the funding.