Town hall meeting Thursday on possible NOMBL takeover
By Jeff Gallatin
North Olmsted
Published Feb. 9, 2005

Officials are hoping the public puts the petal to the metal with strong opinions tomorrow (Feb. 10) in a town hall meeting about the possible takeover of the North Olmsted Municipal Bus Line by the Regional Transit Authority (RTA).

Set for 7:30 p.m. at the North Olmsted Middle School Auditorium, 27351 Butternut Ridge Road, officials noted that a strong public showing in late 2005 at a public hearing helped stall RTA's consideration of eliminating or altering the 53 Bus Route in North Olmsted.

"A lot of citizens showed up then and let RTA know they didn't want that," said Ward 1 Councilman Duane Limpert, who has helped organize tomorrow's meeting. "We're hoping a similar expression of opinions will let RTA and other officials know how people are feeling about this."

Mayor Norman T. Musial said it should be an interesting evening.

"We're expecting a lot of people to attend," Musial said.

"Drivers have been passing out fliers and a lot of people have been talking about it."

Musial said petitions opposing NOMBL being taken over also will be available for people to sign.

"People will have their chance to be heard," Musial said.

Limpert said city officials would be present as well as ones from NOMBL and Rep. Dennis Kucinich, who has also been active in the fight by North Olmsted officials to try and prevent the takeover. He said RTA officials also would be welcome if they would like to attend and speak.

"Absolutely, we'll take all viewpoints in this," Limpert said. "This is a democracy. Maybe people will tell us they'd rather ride an RTA bus, but right now I don't think that's the case."

RTA General Manager Joe Calabrese said he'd heard about the meeting Monday from members of the news media. He said he would consider having someone from RTA attend.

"We'll talk about it Tuesday with Mayor Musial and see what the options are," Calabrese said.

Musial said last week the meeting was being set up to address concerns about the situation. He criticized RTA for not holding its own public hearing on the matter. Calabrese said RTA had already held budget hearings about the North Olmsted and Maple Heights bus lines, but said he would discuss the matter of other hearings with the RTA board.

Bob Whiting, president of the AFSCME Local, which represents the NOMBL employees, said the meeting is for more than just North Olmsted residents.

"It's for people from Fairview Park, Westlake, all the suburbs which NOMBL serves -- even Lorain County people who ride NOMBL," Whiting said. "These people need to let all the officials know that this will affect and hurt a lot of people with any changes for NOMBL."

Limpert said that is one of the primary concerns that council members are hearing.

"There is tremendous concern about service cuts or changes," Limpert said. "People are afraid that in one year, two or five years, RTA will cut a lot of the western suburb lines or services and just bring it down to some park-n-rides. If RTA would fulfill its agreements and provide services it had agreed to like the bus garage, we could get this done. Right now, RTA believes that all the equipment, uniforms, people and everything are just coming from them. I'd like to remind them that a lot of the taxes paying for that come from North Olmsted and the surrounding suburbs."

Calabrese reiterated previous statements that RTA intends to provide the same service.

Limpert said there also could be discussion of other issues, such as allegations at the last council meeting and in a Feb. 1 letter from Kucinich that the RTA negotiating team will only discuss merging or absorbing NOMBL and the Maple Heights lines.

"That's not negotiation when you're not open to different possibilities," Musial said.

Calabrese said that isn't the case.

"Our attorneys have always been willing to discuss the possibility of another contract," he said, noting that RTA officials have consistently offered the two cities the chance to operate the lines if they can find the funds needed. He said city officials have brought up possible transition periods in the discussions.

Calabrese also said that the issue of bus stops for students in the North Olmsted School District, which was raised in another letter from Kucinich last week, has already been solved with the agreement of the district to place stops at the schools.

RTA officials have said they need to know by late March whether or not the merger will take place. After the last five-year pact between RTA and North Olmsted expired, both agencies agreed to an extension through the end of March.

Calabrese said the two sides met on Feb. 4 with another negotiating session scheduled for today.

GREATER CLEVELAND REGIONAL TRANSIT AUTHORITY:
www.gcrta.org