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ALPENA – The Thunder Bay Transit Authority officials hope to hire an executive director May 26, and will begin advertising the position in the spring.
In addition to writing grants and assuring the authority is in compliance with a variety of federal, state and local regulations, the new executive director also will be overseeing the day-to-day details of a new, multi-million dollar transit center to be built north of Alpena.
The TBTA board members approved the job description and job posting at their meeting Monday afternoon, but board President Greg Sundin declined to release the posting publicly because the board isn’t ready for resumes yet.
The new executive would become the TBTA’s second employee, and would manage the authority’s relationship with Prell Services, which operates the bus fleet, he said.
The only other employee at present is a mobility manager. Bus drivers, maintenance and other details are handled through a contract with Prell.
Prell General Manager Billi Edmonds has been running the authority on behalf of the board, and will help with the transition, Sundin said.
The new executive also would follow the direction of the board on budgeting, financing and policies and be responsible applying for grants and managing them, according to a description devised by Sundin and a consultant.
Qualifications include a bachelor’s degree, with a minimum of three years of experience in a senior management position, preferably in transportation.
The board also continued to hammer out details of the salary and benefits package, and will discuss those at its meeting in March.
“Billi is doing about four jobs,” Tony Suszek, intermediate school representative, said. “The executive director won’t be doing four jobs and will take on the duties of Billi as he or she transitions into the job.”
Edmonds said details of the position as well as other issues will have to receive the blessings of MDOT, and could affect reimbursement of expenses if not followed to the letter.
Edmonds also handed out photographs of one of the first trolleys to be completed by Double K of Crandon, Wis. The vehicle is green and ivory and the interior is lined with wood paneling and benches.
It is expected to cut consumption of diesel fuel substantially and run on electricity, but because of changes in laws since the buses originally were ordered, she and the others didn’t know what those savings would be.
Once fully equipped with batteries and other energy savers, the buses will be able to kneel at every stop, and extend a ramp so wheelchair passengers are able to board easily, she said.
The colorful trolleys will serve fixed routes, and the authority will be going through the process of seeking public input to determine routes and stops the buses will travel, Edmonds said.
However, the trolleys also are equipped with air brakes, and more drivers in the TBTA fleet will need to be certified to use them before they can be assigned to the vehicles, Edmonds said.
The only place they can receive the training and certification is in Gaylord. So a certified driver will have to convey them in the trolley to the training facility, she said.
Betsy Lehndorff can be reached via email at blehndorff@thealpenanews.com or by phone at 358-5693. Follow Betsy on Twitter @bl_alpenanews.