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TBTA working to hire new management staff

ALPENA — The Thunder Bay Transportation Authority’s executive committee is working on hiring management positions for the pending opening of the agency’s new building north of Alpena.

During a meeting Tuesday, authority member Tony Suszek, a member of the executive committee, said the committee has been meeting with candidates for the new management of TBTA.

The TBTA board must hire drivers, mechanics and others, as well as a new management, after it was decided several months ago the agency no longer would contract with Prell’s Service, which has been a third party operator for TBTA for decades. The new staff will work out of TBTA’s new building currently under construction with an estimated finish date of August.

Suszek said work on hiring the management staff has been going on for the last several weeks during executive committee meetings.

“First we put together interview questions and we interviewed three for each of the three management positions over a two-day period,” he said. “(The committee) met to discuss some compensation stuff.”

Suszek said at Wednesday’s meeting that he was ready to hire management positions for TBTA but there still were things to be worked out.

“We want to be able to come back at the April meeting to discuss fringe benefits for all the employees,” Suszek said. “You can expect that at the April meeting.”

Suszek said TBTA Executive Director Theron Higgins is going through the candidates’ references and make recommendations.

Theron suggested that those who could be hired for the administration position should be hired sooner than later.

“It’s been three weeks since we interviewed people,” he said. “If we expect people to wait for a month, that’s a long period of time.”

Chairman Greg Sundin agreed it was a long period of time.

Theron made the point, however, that it could be prudent to wait for financial and other reasons.

“If we do want to start everyone on May 1, we don’t have enough money to pay them and then pay Prell’s Service at the same time,” he said.

Prell’s Service Manager Jeff Prell made the point that it wouldn’t be right to have TBTA management directing Prell’s Service employees if TBTA management was hired.

After discussion it was decided the executive committee would continue to meet to come up with a hiring solution for both the new management members as well as workers for the bus driving fleet.

Higgins said a special TBTA meeting will be scheduled in several weeks to possibly hire the new management roles.

There could be a start for the new roles as soon as May 1. Higgins said Oak City Contracting, which originally estimated the new building to be complete by July 18, has pushed back the finished construction to Aug. 1, though this should not affect the new hiring, he said.

Jason Ogden can be reached via email at jogden@thealpenanews.com or by phone at 358-5693. Follow Jason on Twitter @jo_alpenanews.

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