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~ ~~ , _.~ ~;~~ r~ ~ ADNIIN. FFI E~ A ~ ~ rans~ a e ^ ~~ ~ ~, coun vo e ^ The Senator block won't be vacated for rC1aI1 USe UTIiPSS VO~TS approve bonds. By Dan Bender The Statesman Joumal The future site of a public transit mall for downtown Salem is in the hands of Marion County voters - but you won't find the question on the Sept. 19 mail-in bal- lot. Salem transit officials will be watching the outcome of Measure 24-45 closely. Without passage of the measure - which would raise $45 million in con- struction bonds for the coun- ty - the bus service has virtually no chance of build- ing a transfer hub on the Senator block. A task force has concluded that the Sen~tor block is the best site. Owned mainly by Marion County, the Senator block is home to several county of- fices. Without passage of the measure, the county would have no money for planned new buildings and office con- solidations. Those moves would be needed to free up the site during the next few years in time for the Salem Area Mass Transit district t~ gradually inove its transfe~ hub onto the block and off busy High Street NE. In part because of tlie Senator block's uncertain status, the Downtown Tranr sit Center Advisory Commit- tee last month refused to go along with its task force's recommendation. Piease see Vote, Page 2B ~ ~ ; ~F J ~ ote/Bus board ets g three sites to consider Continued trom page i B Instead, the committee for- ' warded three possible sites to the transit district's board for consideration, including the ~ Senator block. The committee I also recommended that the i board take no action until after ballots are counted Sept. i 19. Board member Bill Frey, who also was the transit cen- ter committee's chairman, has said the Senator block was the ~ superior site, fr,om a technical ~ point of view. ~ "We all thought the Senator ! block was the best location," ; he said. "But is it reality?" I This month's board meeting is set for Sept. 21. The issue will be back on the agenda, of- ' ficials said, but it's not certain that the board will make a de- cision on ~ preferred site at that meeting. The board will have to do so ~ soon, however. The district ~ has to move forward with en- vironmental assessments of the preferred site or sites, and narrowing the field would simplify that task for consult- ants. "We need to get closer to se- lecting a site before we can issue (a request for proposal)," said John Whittington, the district's planning and mar- keting manager. Transit officials have one year to submit a detailed grant request or risk losing $2 million in federal matching money for a transit capital project. ~~A~~a._ _ Kay WorthingtoNStatesman Journal