Lawton council wants more details before leasing building for LATS

City Council members want more details settled before they accept a plan to lease additional space for LATS operations.

The proposal from Lawton’s mass transit system operators would lease an empty commercial building adjacent to their complex at Bishop Road and Southwest 6th Street, giving them more space for the operations staff. That, in turn, would mean plans to build a new LATS complex on Railroad Street could be pared down to its simplest component: an indoor transfer center.

Ward 4 Councilman George Gill, chair of the City Council’s Downtown Transfer Center Site Committee, acknowledged that benefit Tuesday, but said he has questions about the proposal to lease the building from owner Terry K. Bell II, questions he wants settled before the council — acting in its capacity as the City Transit Trust — approves the lease contract.

While Hendrickson Transportation Group handles daily operations for the mass transit system, it is answerable to the City Transit Trust.

General Manager Ryan Landers called the proposal to lease the building immediately east of the maintenance facility a “short term solution” for LATS and its space issues.

Landers said the proposed lease would be for three years, and while it is only a short-term solution, LATS officials must discuss what the next steps will be in their plan to build new facilities. What had been proposed during conceptual designs was a complex featuring the indoor transfer center on its north side (closest to Southeast B Avenue), with facilities for operations, maintenance and storage to the south. But, the transfer center committee has been discussing a plan to find a temporary solution that would allow the city to build the complex in phases, starting with the less-expensive indoor transfer center (a facility to serve bus passengers and drivers).

Gill wanted to know if the proposed lease fits into that plan, and whether the Downtown Transfer Center Site Committee should discuss the exact components before making a recommendation to the full transit trust/council. Gill also asked whether the lease locks in the City of Lawton for three years, or a clause to allow it to end the lease earlier.

“We need a plan before we do it (approve the lease),” Gill said.

City attorneys said the lease contains a clause that would allow the city to end the lease before three years.

“It is not binding for future councils,” said City Attorney John Andrew, adding that provision is in all city contracts.

Gill’s recommendation — to table action until details are settled — was the one the council accepted.

Hendrickson officials have said the lease is something LATS can afford. The proposed lease sets a monthly lease of $1,300, or $9,100 for the remainder of the fiscal year that ends June 30, 2025, if the council approves the contract this month. Planning Director Christine James said 80 percent of that cost ($8,280) would come from federal funding, while the remainder would come from local sources.

Landers also estimated start-up costs of $11,500 for the building, to include $4,000 in security, $4,000 in office equipment, and $3,500 in furniture and supplies. Annual costs for the building are estimated at $31,000.

That building wasn’t the only short-term option LATS is exploring.

There is a 25,000-square-foot warehouse north of the LATS yard that may be suitable for maintenance and storage use. Landers said using both buildings could relieve overcrowding at the south Lawton complex while providing more indoor storage space for vehicles. That, in turn, would allow maintenance, storage and operations to remain in the leased space on Bishop Road until LATS secures funding to pay for Phase II, or the rest of the Railroad Street complex.

Construction of the indoor transfer center is estimated at $3 million to $4 million, a cost that would be easier to fund, Gill and Landers have said.