The Columbia City Council approved extending the contract with MU for its shuttle bus service on campus Monday night.
The extension will add one year to the contract.
“This is the one student-focused route that actually pays for its costs,” City Manager Mike Matthes said.
The shuttles run from parking lots to various places on campus and a night shuttle also runs on weeknights. The contract is for slightly more than $1 million.
The agreement comes during MU’s continuing investigation into the transit issue as its hired consultant works to find student-friendly solutions to transit.
The council also discussed continued public debate over the Enhanced Enterprise Zones they approved last month.
Sixth Ward councilwoman Barbara Hoppe had requested two reports regarding the issue. Controversy arose in February when the city approved a map that declared a large swath of the city as “areas that contain inadequacies that lead to blight.”
Hoppe requested a report that asked whether they needed to rescind the language implying blight or whether it was just preliminary. City staff found that the language should just be taken as preliminary.
Fifth Ward councilwoman Helen Anthony expressed concern that there was no public hearing before the council acted in February and said she doesn’t see how the language is supposed to be taken as preliminary.
Hoppe said she has talked to local realtors who have said they would have to inform potential buyers that property was in a blighted area.
No action was taken, but city staff will be investigating whether the blighted designations will decrease property values and what effect rescinding the previously approved map would have.
Staff will also announce a timetable for when a public hearing will be held on the subject.
“We are going to end up having a 3-4 hour public hearing on this,” Mayor Bob McDavid said.
The city also set aside $100,000 for the implementation of the Enhanced Home Program through the Energy Star Program.
The program will help low income families afford to update their appliances to more energy efficient models.