September 26, 2017 at 8:16 a.m.
Northwoods Transit Connections adjusts 'on call' procedure
Organization announces temporary changes until federal funding arrives
Northwoods Transit Connections adjusts 'on call' procedure
That's the way Jim Altenburg, the director og Northwoods Transit Connections, describes the current situation with the organization, put together under the umbrella of the Oneida and Vilas Transit Commission.
The transit commission took action Friday to adjust operations, including its "on call" procedure.
Before the end of last week, anyone in Vilas or Oneida County could call for a ride anytime during business hours, much like a person would call for a taxi cab. Effective Sept. 25, riders on Northwoods Transit Connections buses will need to call 24 hours ahead - unless it's an emergency medical situation or some other extenuating circumstance - to get a ride.
Background
Northwoods Transit Connections is the result of many years of discussion among a number of organizations about the need to enhance transportation for the elderly and others.
The transit commission was originally to be a tri-county effort between Forest, Oneida and Vilas counties.
Vilas County joined in September 2014, and, following an hour-long discussion at its March 2015, meeting, the county board ratified the charter.
Concerns about the potential impact on local, private taxi companies arose early.
At that meeting, former Vilas County supervisor Wallace Beversdorf of Phelps raised concerns about such an endeavor. His primary concern was the commission would be government-funded and that might hurt other independent transportation services such as taxi cabs.
Vilas County District Attorney Martha Milanowski, then the county board's corporation counsel, said the way the laws are written when it comes to an entity like the transit commission, she didn't think that would ever be a problem.
"I think this is a way to garner further funding, to grow what we already have and to work collaboratively with our neighbors," Milanowski said then.
As things turned out, however, that competition - municipal versus private vendors - has become an issue and one of the reasons Northwoods Transit Connections is making adjustments.
Bridge loan attempts
In June 2015, Forest County left the consortium and the other two counties proceeded alone.
In February 2016, Altenburg was hired by the transit commission as the director of what became known as Northwoods Transit Connections.
The service, envisioned as another means of transportation for the elderly and others in need, began modestly with two routes, but over the course of the next several months expanded substantially. More drivers and support staff were hired.
The growth was so great over the course of the past two years the transit commission has basically outrun its means before the end of the fiscal year.
In the meantime, grant funding the transit commission needed to get through the fiscal year on Sept. 30 and into October has been late in arriving. This caused the commission to ask for what Vilas County supervisor Irv Teichmiller described in a meeting of the Vilas County finance committee Sept. 20 as a "bridge loan" of $150,000. The Vilas finance committee rejected the proposal.
Before that, on Sept. 11, Oneida County supervisor Bob Mott, a member of the Oneida board's administrative committee as well as vice-chairman of the transit commission, informed committee members he would draft a resolution for the loan to be presented at the Sept. 19 county board meeting.
No resolution was brought to the board however, and that was one of the reasons Vilas County's finance committee turned down the loan.
Another reason was the transit commission still owes the county $50,000 for "one time" loan it made to the organization.
Anonymous donor
After meeting in closed session for approximately 90 minutes Friday, Teichmiller said there was "some level of assurance" the grant application for just over $300,000 had been submitted by the Wisconsin Department of Transportation to the federal government.
"It is, in fact, being reviewed and we are told that the review should be completed by the end of the fiscal year, which is the end of September," he said. "At that point ... the funding will begin to flow to the state. We anticipate we should see revenue from the federal government at some point in mid to late October. That's encouraging."
In the meantime, Teichmiller said an individual who wishes to remain anonymous is willing to make a loan to the organization.
The dollar amount of the loan is between $75,000 and $100,000.
"It will appear that we will have adequate cash flow to continue the operation," he said. "At the same, we've realized we have to reduce some of our costs in part because we have had such a growth in the program as a result of many elderly people, handicapped folk, who are also, in many cases, unable to afford larger charges for their transportation services and find our fee more affordable and therefore, easier to access."
As of the end of August, Teichmiller said ridership for Northwoods Transit Connections buses has been "in excess of 36,000 rides."
"That's really quite remarkable in really our first full year of operation in the two-county area," he said.
Teichmiller said the plans to scale back operations - at least in the short term - includes some staff reductions.
"Through layoffs," he said. "At the same time, we have a number of employees who have voluntarily come to us and said 'You can defer my paycheck.' We've consulted an attorney and that's appropriate. So, until the federal funds arrive, we will accept their offer if that's moved on by this commission."
Teichmiller described the employees who made the offer to have their pay defered, as "incredibly loyal people."
Minutes later, the pay deferment offer from the employees, along with the change in the "on call" policy to a 24 hour notice and changes to the service's overall schedule, was accepted by unanimous vote of the commission.
"We will make some effort to compress services so that they are somewhat more efficient and take less staff time," Teichmiller said.
After the vote, he said he wanted to express appreciation for those representing the private taxi and mobility businesses present.
As he did at Vilas County board meetings in 2014 and 2015 regarding the formation of the transit commission, Teichmiller said it's always been the goal for the NTC and those private businesses to work together.
"We have never, to my knowledge, provided services in the evening or the weekend for individual rides," he said. "They're there for the private folks to provide."
Teichmiller, who later said people are always referred by NTC staff to private businesses such as taxi companies, noted there "appeared to be plenty of business out there for everybody."
"We fill a niche that has to do with a rate for people who can ill afford a higher fee for transportation," he said. "It's clear this has been a program that has been envisioned for the last 10 or 15 years and in the last three years, we've developed it and we think it's operated well. We are quite aware the bulk of our folks who ride are elderly and on fixed incomes."
'Difficult to compete'
At the beginning of Friday's meeting and before transit commission members went into closed session, Carrie Linzmeier addressed the group.
Linzmeier and her husband Rich own Harshaw-based Stargazer Taxi and Limousine Service and Northwoods Mobility.
"We've just kind of been watching," Linzmeier said. "We do pretty much everything you all do. I'd just been hearing so many things lately about there not being transportation access in the community for the elderly and disabled. I just wanted to finally speak up and say 'We've been here.' I just wanted you to know that we have wheelchair vehicles, we do all of these medical trips. We're all over this county, all over Vilas County, all over Lincoln, Price ... all over the Northwoods. We work with all kinds of different insurance companies that provide these services and I've heard so many things that there is no access. I'm finally speaking up - there is access. It's out there. We are an option and I just want you all to know that."
Linzmeier said another thing she, her husband and others in their business had heard was Northwoods Transit Connections had branched out into the shuttle and charter realms.
"It's just ... we want to be good neighbors," she said. "It's been difficult for us to compete with a government-funded agency like this when we have invested thousands of our personal dollars and have no grant funds and we work very hard to make sure these services are available every day to these people in this community."
In an interview during the commission's closed session, Linzmeier said it remains to be seen how well the transit connection will work with related private business owners.
"Are they really serious about running it more efficiently and working hand-in-hand?" she asked. "We'll see."
'It was all mine'
After the meeting, Altenburg said the changes made were the result of recommendations he made.
"It was all mine," he said. "I requested that because the only way to get a proper condensation is for them (the riders) to call ahead," he said. "In other words, if I have three buses running in that route structure, we have 15 minute increments. If there's a wheelchair, there's half an hour. So, we just block them in. With them calling ahead, it fills up, this all we've got and we've had to go to that because of the huge demand."
The NTC actually owns only a couple of the aging, current fleet of 12 or 13 buses.
Teichmiller said the long-term goal is to be able to buy new buses as the cost of repairing breakdowns on the current buses accounts for a large portion of the NTC's budge.
Altenburg said he should have three new buses, paid for by state grants and other sources separate from the federal funding the NTC is waiting for, in the next several days.
"If I had enough equipment, buses and budget, I could have 100,000 rides," he said. "Without any doubt. That's how much need there is in the two counties."
As for the issues facing the transit commission at the moment, Altenburg said he takes responsibility for much of the current situation.
"Here are the big mitigating factors," he said. "I went out to please everybody and did my best. It not only grew, we had Miracle-Gro in it. It went beyond what I could cut and maintain. So, what happened was, we went over labor by 110 percent to 115 percent, which I've peeled back."
Altenburg said another contributing factor, in addition to repair costs, was a doubling of vehicle insurance in July.
"Where do you pull another $30,000 from?" he asked. "Those are the hurdles we're dealing with."
Moving forward, Altenburg noted this is the first full year of operations for Northwoods Transit Connections and it will provide a benchmark for the future.
"We're gonna be set," he said. "I promise you that we'll put safeguards in ... sometimes, when you take your eye off the dashboard, we miss the little things."
Brian Jopek may be reached via email at [email protected]
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