Joint county transit system plan picks up speed

RIDERS GOT OFF an Ozaukee Express bus coming from Milwaukee at the Grafton Commons stop late Tuesday afternoon. Ozaukee and Washington counties are in the process of merging their transit departments to create a system with improved services between the two counties. Photo by Sam Arendt
Officials in Washington and Ozaukee counties are hoping to draft a charter to create a joint transit commission that would oversee the public transit systems in both counties.
Members of the Ozaukee County Public Works Committee directed county Transit Supt. Joy Neilson to draft a charter for them to review and possibly vote on when they meet next on Dec. 19.
The charter would have to be approved by both county boards.
A joint transit commission would be a separate entity funded by both counties and with funds from the federal and state governments. Members would be appointed by the county boards.
Washington County currently spends about $2.5 million on its transit program, nearly $500,000 more than Ozaukee County, although Ozaukee County spends nearly $100,000 more in tax levy, officials said.
Details that would have to be worked out in the charter and in a memorandum of understanding would include vehicle storage, dispatch services, hours of operation, maintenance issues and usage of buildings.
“I find it to be pretty aggressive to have all that done by April,” Public Works Chairman Don Korinek said.
Ozaukee County Administrator Jason Dzwinel said it’s necessary to create the commission sooner rather than later to apply for grants for 2021 and to do it under the current County Board being that all supervisors will be up for re-election in April.
“We want to avoid having to re-educate new supervisors” should the membership of the Public Works Committee change, Dzwinel said.
Both counties have invested heavily into their transit programs, buying vehicles, setting up maintenance plans and building buildings.
Several supervisors wondered how those would be shared equitably.
There likely will be little or no cost-savings in the merger; it might even cost more, they were told, because the real purpose of the merger is to improve service, especially for those traveling between counties and having to switch rides in Newburg to get home, to work or to see their doctor.
“This isn’t a money issue,” Washington County Administrator Josh Schoemann told the committee. “This is an issue of people waiting and standing outside (at a bus stop) in Newburg. It’s the worst of the worst as far as how terrible government works.”
“But there are a lot of conservative people on that County Board who are going to be asking those financial questions,” Korinek said.
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