Transit service to the new St. Mary's Health Center will begin Nov. 17, the day after the new location will begin accepting patients.
At the Public Works and Planning Committee meeting Thursday, Public Works Director Matt Morasch presented the plans for the expanded transit service, which would serve the new hospital on Mission Drive on "an as-needed basis."
Mayor Eric Struemph allocated $25,000 in his 2015 budget to expand transit service to the new hospital and the council opted to keep that funding in the final budget.
Morasch said it was a challenge to come up with a way to serve St. Mary's within existing routes, all while keeping the city's standard 40-minute headway. The solution presented Thursday would be a route deviation system, which would only affect the Capital Mall route.
The route would have two portions that would only be served by rider request. One is the new St. Mary's location and the other is an area near Industrial Drive and Missouri 179 that currently is part of the fixed route.
Morasch said riders would either have to inform the bus driver that they want to stop in those areas or call transit dispatch to arrange for a pick up. In order to continue the 40-minute headway, Morasch said an additional bus would be sent out to complete routes on time during peak hours (in the morning and afternoon) and as needed throughout the day.
Because the changes do not affect current service for existing riders, Morasch said no public hearing or further council approval is needed.
The new route system will be used on a trial basis, he said, with staff re-evaluating as needed. After a minimum of six months, the city will evaluate how the deviations are working.
In other business, the committee approved fee increases related to abandoned buildings. Janice McMillan, director of Planning and Protective Services, said the city's fees for registering an abandoned building are lower than necessary and do not adequately recoup costs for staff time.
Currently, for abandoned buildings that are registered with the city, the initial registration fee is $44. But considering the staff time involved, McMillan said the recommendation is to increase that fee to $150. If the property owner does not pay the fee and register their property, a second notice would be sent out with a recommended fee of $175. And if a summons is issued, the fee would increase to $225.
The monthly fee for being on the list of abandoned buildings would increase from $32 to $40. McMillan specified all fees reflect the actual costs of enforcement.
McMillan said the city is not successful in collecting the fees and registering the buildings, noting that about 10 owners have registered their properties out of more than 100.
"Only about 10 percent are paying the fee," McMillan said. "They're ignoring us altogether ... we want to pursue those people in municipal court."
The recommended fees will go to the full City Council for review.