(rshsdepot) Rensselaer, NY

[I95BERNIEW_@_aol.com]

From today's Times Union.
 
Bernie Wagenblast
 
 
++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++
 
     
CDTA takes over at station 
Agency makes changes at Rensselaer facility in wake  of management shift 
By _CATHY  WOODRUFF_ 
(http://timesunion.com/TUNews/author/AuthorPage.aspx?AuthorNum=132) , Staff writer  
First  published: Tuesday, January 23, 2007  
RENSSELAER -- A little over four years  after opening the $53.1 million 
Rensselaer Rail Station, the Capital  District Transportation Authority has taken 
direct command of station  management and completed a round of station 
improvements worth more than  $320,000.  
Recent upgrades include canopies over the station entrances, where  temporary 
scaffolding and plywood structures temporarily protected patrons  from ice 
and snow that slid from the roof in winter; more durable tile  flooring to 
replace carpeting in waiting areas inside the building; and  additional lighting.  
There's more to come. CDTA has spent $50,000 on study and design work  for 
upgraded lighting, sidewalks and ticket booth canopies in the parking  area.  
The work comes as the authority moves into the first full year of  running 
the station without an outside management company.  
CDTA ended its contract last fall with Omni Management, which had  overseen 
maintenance and operation of the 72,000-square-foot station since  the building 
opened in September 2002. In addition to housing Amtrak's  Albany region 
passenger hub, the station houses the Rensselaer Post  Office, CDTA offices, a 
newsstand and a coffee shop.  
"CDTA never operated a train station before, and we felt that we would  have 
an outside company come in and manage the station until we had a few  years 
under our belt, and then see if we could run it ourselves," said  CDTA board 
member Wayne Pratt, who chairs the committee that oversees  station operations.  
In large part, Pratt said, the change comes because CDTA now has the  
in-house expertise and knowledge of station operations to do the job at a  lower 
cost.  
Still, there have been issues with station oversight and operation  during 
Omni's tenure. Among the most notable was the time in 2003 when  embarrassed 
CDTA officials stepped in to instruct newsstand operator  Hamilton News to remove 
several magazines promoting incest and move other  adult-content publications 
to conceal nudity and keep them out of the  reach of young children.  
A review of the station management by CDTA's internal auditor found no  major 
financial discrepancies but did reveal what the auditor called  "convoluted" 
record-keeping.  
When the end of the Omni contract was discussed by the board recently,  board 
member Arthur Young, a frequent critic of the company who has  declined to 
specify his objections in public, said "may they never further  tread on CDTA's 
feet."  
"To try to put a positive spin on this, it provided us with a blueprint  of 
what not to do," board member Henry DeLegge said of the authority's  contract 
management experience.  
CDTA officials estimate the cost of the Omni arrangement at $115,000 in  the 
last year of the contract. The agency expects that bringing the  station 
management in-house could save as much as $80,000 in the first  year.  
CDTA now has a manager of facilities, Mark Wos, who is paid $86,665 a  year 
to oversee all of the authority's buildings, which include two train  stations, 
headquarters and garages in Albany, Schenectady and Troy, and  many bus 
shelters throughout the region.  
Facility manager John Rich, who is paid $40,000 a year, now is directly  in 
charge of operations at both the Saratoga Springs and Rensselaer  stations.  
In the last year, during the transition to direct management, CDTA took  
several steps to improve the overall operation of the station, according  to Wos.  
Last summer, for example, the staff found that the station's heating,  
ventilation and air conditioning system never had been hooked up to the  passarelle 
area, a bright atrium-style corridor overlooking the tracks,  with seating and 
escalators leading to and from the boarding platforms.  
Reprogramming of the heating, ventilation and air conditioning system's  
computerized controls should make temperatures more comfortable throughout  the 
building and save money, Wos said.  
CDTA officials also say changes to the lighting schedule and  replacement of 
lights over the main station concourse should save energy  and provide 
brighter surroundings for travelers inside the station. CDTA  technicians found that 
only a portion of those lights were operating last  year, Wos said. Woodruff 
can be reached at 454-5093 or by e-mail at  cwoodruff_@_timesunion.com. 

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