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City administrator: SORTA exploring hub at Rose’s site; council urged to appoint members to CIC
Summary
City Administrator Miss Duxton told council SORTA has explored creating a transit hub at the Rose’s parking lot but said no deals are final; council members discussed the Community Investment Commission (CIC) and the need for two elected representatives to fill seats so the city can access additional grant channels.
City Administrator Miss Duxton told the North College Hill City Council on Jan. 21 that the Southwest Ohio Regional Transit Authority (SORTA) has renewed interest in establishing a transit hub in the city and has been exploring the Rose’s parking lot as a possible site.
“No deals have been officially made,” Duxton said, describing SORTA’s outreach as ongoing “and they want to be here in North College Hill.” She said delays stemmed from earlier discussions with prior administrations, competing site priorities and general site selection work, and that SORTA has not yet secured a location.
Duxton said SORTA expects to leverage city assistance where appropriate and that the talks are currently at an exploratory stage. Councilmember Miss Orr added context from earlier discussions under a previous administration: SORTA initially talked about buying land, then suggested the city should acquire it, which the city considered a nonstarter at the time.
Separately, Duxton and several council members discussed the Community Investment Commission, or CIC, which the administrator described as an organization that can accept and manage grants the city cannot take directly. Duxton said the CIC could expand the city’s access to funding similar to how 3CDC operates for Cincinnati.
Miss Underwood said she remains open to participating on CIC only if the group is able to produce concrete results. She said she previously reduced her participation because meetings felt unproductive and she did not want to meet “just for the sake of meeting.” Duxton said CIC currently meets the third Thursday of each month at 6:30 p.m. at the senior building and that two council members’ participation is needed; she encouraged interested elected officials to email the mayor.
Why it matters: a SORTA hub could change local transit access and potential economic activity around the site; working through CIC could open new grant funding and project-management channels for the city.
Duxton and other council members said the city will continue discussions with SORTA and CIC; no formal council action or vote on either topic was recorded at the meeting.
