City Transit Trust decision expected today on LATS facility

City of Lawton officials could make a decision today on whether to change plans for a mass transit complex being planned east of the downtown area.

City Council members, acting in their capacity as the City Transit Trust, will receive a presentation from LATS General Manager Ryan Landers on the status of the downtown transfer center project, construction that will give LATS its first indoor center and amenities for riders and bus drivers. Landers also will update the trust/council about plans to add eight new fixed route buses, the majority of the cost funded with federal dollars.

At a meeting of the Downtown Transfer Center Site Committee, Landers suggested a new option for design plans being crafted for what will be a transfer center, storage and maintenance facility, and operations building: divide the project into two phases. Phase I would be the transfer center; Phase II, everything else. Dividing the project would allow city officials to direct design engineers to proceed with construction plans for the transfer center, meaning the project could begin construction in 2025 if full funding is identified. Phase II would be pursued later.

Landers said it might be possible to keep the maintenance, storage and operations facilities at the south Lawton site LATS now uses, if officials could pursue new options. The first would be renting a building west of the LATS complex to use administrative offices. The second would be allowing LATS to analyze a 25,000-square-foot warehouse north of their complex to see if it is suitable for maintenance and storage. If so, that would give LATS enough space to fully house all its functions on Bishop Road for the foreseeable future.

That’s a decided change from what LATS officials have been supporting for at least two years: moving all LATS functions to the South Railroad Street site, just south of the public safety complex.

Landers said the same landlord that rents LATS office space owns the now-vacant other buildings and is willing to lease the space, $1,300 per month for the administrative offices and $4,000 per month for the warehouse. The administrative space is available now, and Landers said approval by the City Transit Trust this month would allow his staff to move into the space in early November.

More time is needed for analysis of the warehouse, to include electrical and water work, and exactly what needs to be done to the 25-year-old building to make it functional for LATS.

Keeping those functions where they are would allow city officials to concentrate on the indoor transfer center, a facility that has been estimated at $3 million to $4 million. That would get the facility up and functioning much sooner, Landers said. It’s a plan some council members indicated they could support.

Ward 4 Councilman George Gill said he’s argued that plan for months.

“I have no problem with separating the maintenance and operations building,” he said.

Landers said a decision is necessary soon, as design engineers Wendel WD Architecture moves closer to the time when it would need a new contract to proceed with construction designs.

Landers also is expected to update the transit trust on an $8.74 million project to buy eight hybrid buses for LATS fixed routes. Seven of the electric/diesel buses will be funded from a $6.1 million Low-No Grant that LATS won, funding restricted to vehicles that have little to no emissions. The eight bus can be purchased from local funding, meaning LATS could replace buses that are well beyond their life expectancy with new buses within two years, Landers said.