A proposed bus route that would pick up residents in four Carbon County communities and take them to Mauch Chunk Lake Park is on hold, at least for another week, after the commissioners split a vote that would put the new route in motion.

On Thursday, the commissioners voted 1-1 to enter into an agreement with LANTA to implement the beach bus route. The route, as the proposal states, would serve the communities of Nesquehoning, Lansford, Summit Hill and Jim Thorpe and run on Saturdays from May 27 through Sept. 2. Commissioners’ Chairman Wayne Nothstein was absent, so the tie could not be broken, meaning the motion failed.

AJ Jordan, manager of planning and scheduling at LANTA, provided the board with an overview of what the route would look like and how it would operate if it was approved.

“The purpose of providing transportation access to Mauch Chunk Lake Park for families and youth,” he said, adding that children ages 12 and older would be allowed to ride the bus to Mauch Chunk Lake without an adult.

Jordan said that there would be three trips to the lake on a Saturday, beginning at 4:30 a.m. in Nesquehoning. It would then also include a 10 a.m. and 1 p.m. pickup in that borough. Lansford and Summit Hill would be shortly after the first pickup before arriving at Mauch Chunk Lake. The bus would then travel to Jim Thorpe Area High School for the final pickup.

Three return trips would then take place throughout the day.

Jordan said that this is a fixed route and would cost $2 a trip or $4 a day.

Commissioner Rocky Ahner said that while this is a good thing for the community, he has several questions, mainly about unattended children utilizing the bus and how the county could guarantee the child gets to the lake and back and doesn’t get off at another stop.

He also questioned how the bus driver would verify the child was in fact 12 or older, because some children look older than they are.

“Is your driver going to monitor?” Ahner asked Jordan. “Who’s going to watch that 12-year-old kid? I’m just worried about the liability that comes back to us.”

Commissioner Chris Lukasevich said that currently, children ages 10 and older can be at the lake without adult supervision and that was being raised to 12 to coincide with the bus policy.

He also said that he feels that children need to have more freedom as a way to learn how to make decisions and grow and develop.

Ahner said that times have changed and the world has changed since Lukasevich was a child riding the bus and he just has some concerns that need to be answered before he votes in favor of the route.

Jordan said that LANTA’s previous policy allowed children as young as 5 to ride one of the buses unattended, but that policy has now been changed to 12.

He said that at this time, no children ride the bus, but approximately 64% of riders are senior citizens.

The commissioners said further discussion will take place and another motion would be made once Nothstein returns.