KALAMAZOO (WKZO-AM) — Commissioners will get their first look at plans to transfer the city-owned Metro Transit System’s assets to the new bus authority this evening, a process that is expected to take a year.
The authority has been in the works for be better part of a decade and its finally coming together. On Monday, commissioners will get a look at the plan to make the final push.
“Within that (comprehensive transfer agreement) is the step-by-step of what has to be done by next year,” chairperson Linda Teeter said.
It will begin with the creation of a list of just what those assets are, which will be transferred and which will be leased.
“It takes all of the equipment, all of the buses, et cetera, the property — we will have a 100-year lease,” she said.
The organization is more than just buses — there’s also the bus barn, Metro’s offices on North Rose Street and the downtown transportation center, which includes Kalamazoo’s historic train station. Those items will remain city-owned, but will be leased to the authority for a nominal sum each year.
The goal to sign the final paper work by next October.
– John McNeill
