On the move: RFP for new Northwoods Transit Connections building goes to the DOT

The slow, steady process toward a new home for Northwoods Transit Connections (NTC) continues. 

Barb Newman, NTC director, told The Lakeland Times on Feb. 27 she sent architectural and engineering requests for proposals to the Wisconsin Department of Transportation (DOT) for review there.

“They’ll tell me what I need to do, whether I need to change anything and whether we’ll be able to go out for bid,” she said. “We can’t go out for bids until we have our next meeting.”

That next meeting for the Oneida Vilas Transportation Commission (OVTC), which oversees operations of NTC, scheduled for March 20. 

The OVTC has received $210,000 in grant funding for the project. 

Newman said $168,000 of that amount is state-funded with the rest coming from the aging and disability resource centers for Oneida and Vilas counties. 

As for a location to build a new facility, she said that hasn’t been decided. 

“There’s a couple that we like,” Newman said. “There’s still some hurdles we need to get over before we decide what we can do or where we can go.”

She said the $210,000 in grant funding would be used to acquire whatever property is ultimately decided on. 

In October, Tyler Allison with Angus-Young Architects and Engineers went over a space needs he’d put together with members of the OVTC that included a cost estimate of $3.7 million for a nearly 9,000 square foot building.

The estimate he presented at the time included one remote NTC building either in Minocqua or Eagle River.

A second remote location would bring the figure to roughly $4 million. 

Brian Jopek may be reached via email at [email protected].