Pack up the boxes and crank up the buses because the North Oakland Transportation Authority is moving about a mile to the west.
Last week, the NOTA board of directors voted to move its operations from the Crossroads for Youth campus at 930 E. Drahner Rd. to a 2,000-square-foot space it’s going to lease at 945 S. Glaspie Rd. in the village.
‘It looks like it’s going to be a good thing for NOTA,? said Pat Fitchena, executive director of the transportation authority that provides free rides to senior citizens, disabled individuals and welfare-to-work program participants living in Oxford, Addison and Orion.
Fitchena said the new location is ‘more or less centrally located? with ‘easy access? to M-24 and Lakeville Road, which goes out to Addison Township.
NOTA is planning to move in ‘before the end of the month, for sure,? she said. ‘It just needs some painting and the carpet cleaned, and we’re good to go.?
The space includes a bay area that will allow NOTA to bring its 16 buses and vans inside, one at a time, for minor repairs and inspections, which are conducted by the state every three months.
‘That’s a big bonus,? Fitchena said.
The new space will house NOTA’s dispatch center, offices for its director and operations manager and a break room for the drivers.
NOTA will be paying a higher rent than before ? $1,000 per month plus $30 for the water bill. No security deposit is required and snow-plowing of the parking lot will be provided at no extra charge.
‘There weren’t really a lot of strings attached to this lease, which was a good thing for us,? Fitchena said.
At Crossroads, NOTA was paying $500 per month and that included utilities.
NOTA’s lease with Crossroads expires in March 2011, but the nonprofit organization indicated the transportation authority can leave whenever it wishes. Crossroads has plans for the space NOTA currently occupies. This precipitated the upcoming move.