Next year, the North Oakland Transportation Authority (NOTA) will no longer give any rides to residents of Addison Township, including the Village of Leonard.
That’s because in the Nov. 4 election, Addison residents voted 1,257 to 1,216 to reject a five-year, 0.25-mill property tax request to help fund NOTA.
Addison will no longer be part of NOTA come Jan. 1, according to township Supervisor Bruce Pearson, which means no more publicly-subsidized bus service for the community’s senior citizens, disabled individuals and low-income residents.
‘Everybody’s going to get older someday and now we have zero public transportation,? he said. ‘I’m just going to tell my seniors to hang on to their driver’s license until they pry it out of your dead hand . . . (Without NOTA), the people know that once they give that license up, they’re done for unless they have kids around here (to drive them).?
Pearson, who’s also the chairman of the NOTA board, was very disappointed and surprised by the millage failure.
‘Boy, I don’t know what to say,? he said. “I thought it was going to pass. I really did. I thought that the people cared enough about their seniors and about their disabled people that it would pass. But I guess we’re back to square one ? we won’t have any service.?
‘I hope that all our seniors have good neighbors that can take them places,” Pearson noted. “I don’t know what the people will do (otherwise). That’s a tough one. There’s no way we can start up a (transportation) service (like NOTA) that cheap. There’s nothing I can do that’s cheaper.?
Voters in Addison’s precincts 1 and 2 approved the NOTA millage 478-458 and 495-461, respectively.
However, voters in Precinct 3, the township’s southeastern portion, failed it 338 to 243.
Precinct 3 is part of the Romeo school district. Consequently, these voters consider themselves to be part of the Romeo community. ‘All their activities are in Romeo,? Pearson said.
But NOTA vehicles no longer venture into the Romeo area, which is east of Dequindre Rd.
In October 2013, NOTA cut its service area from 448 to 223 square miles as a cost-saving measure. As a result, the service area’s eastern boundary was changed from Van Dyke Rd. to Dequindre Rd.
Pearson believes Precinct 3 voters rejected the millage because NOTA no longer travels to the places they need or want to go.
He now believes that shrinking the eastern boundary was ‘probably a mistake.?
This is the second time Addison voters have failed the NOTA millage request.
In the August primary, it went down 557 to 531 in Addison. In contrast, Oxford and Orion voters approved the millage back then, so those townships will remain part of NOTA.
Pearson vowed to keep his promise that if the voters failed the millage a second time, he would not attempt to keep Addison in NOTA by using $70,000 from the municipality’s general fund to pay the township’s share for services.
‘I won’t do that,? the supervisor said. ‘I won’t go around the voters. It wouldn’t be right to go around them, especially after the second (vote). It’s just not the right thing to do.?
?(The voters) spoke very clearly and I’ll abide by (their decision),? he added.
Pearson plans to resign from the NOTA board next week. He said Addison Treasurer Lori Fisher and Leonard Village President Mike McDonald will also be quitting.
‘We’re going to resign because we don’t think it would be fair to make any decisions that affect NOTA if we’re not going to be in it,? Pearson said.
Pearson noted that because Addison has some ‘sweat equity? in NOTA, he is going to ask the board to consider keeping the door open for the township to possibly rejoin should circumstances change in the future.
Despite NOTA’s failure, Addison voters approved a 10-year, 0.2-mill increase for their public library. It passed 1,380 to 1,146.
Pearson noted that even Precinct 3 voters supported the library millage because they use the facility.
‘That area does not have internet (service),? the supervisor said. ‘We’ve been trying and trying, but we can’t get internet over there, so a lot of them depend on the library for the internet.?