Troy - One day after the City Council approved a modified plan for the Troy Transit Center, officials on Wednesday said city staffers are evaluating who will build the project.
Proposals are expected to go before the council next month. The selected group will oversee construction and coordinate with contractors, said Mark Miller, Troy's director of economic and community development.
Miller said the city will seek an extension of the October 2013 deadline to open the center after the federally funded project was delayed when the council rejected plans last month for an $8.4 million center. Tuesday, the council approved a smaller, $6.27 million center by a vote of 4-3.
Regional transportation advocates called the compromise good news.
"I'm very pleased that they did figure out a way to move forward," said Megan Owens, executive director of Transportation Riders United, a Detroit nonprofit focused on transportation access and mobility. The resolution was proposed by councilmen Dane Slater and Wade Fleming. Fleming, who cast the deciding vote against the facility last month, said the reduced cost changed his mind as well as a written pledge from the Troy Chamber of Commerce to create a business model ensuring taxpayers wouldn't have to pay annual maintenance and operating costs estimated at $30,000.
Jerry Rush, senior director of government and community relations for Meritor, a global supplier to the commercial truck and military markets with about 850 employees at its Troy headquarters, said the company expects the center will attract employees.
"It's an aspect of quality of life that's important to help young talent remain in this area," he said. "That's important to us as well as other employers in Troy."
The Troy Multi-Modal Transit Facility will join train, bus, taxi and future light-rail service at a 2.4-acre site near Maple and Coolidge. Project engineers Hubbell, Roth & Clark Inc., reduced the facility to 2,000 square feet from 2,400 and eliminated amenities.
Mayor Janice Daniels campaigned against the transit center and twice voted no. So did councilmen Doug Tietz and Dave Henderson. Mayor Pro Tem Maureen McGinnis and Councilman Jim Campbell backed both plans.
