BATTLE CREEK, Mich. (WOOD) — A proposal to create a new countywide transit authority in Calhoun County has hit a roadblock.

The Calhoun County Commission was expected to discuss the idea at its Thursday evening meeting but it was removed from the agenda Thursday afternoon.

At the meeting, County Administrator/Controller Kelli Scott pointed to concerns raised Tuesday by Battle Creek city commissioner at large Jack Smith, who was worried about how much the city would be paying in to the program compared to its representation on the authority board.

“Following (Tuesday’s) Battle Creek City Commission meeting, it has become evident that the leadership is not ready: Not ready to assume that roll, not sure if they want to create and honestly run a countywide transit system and unsure of the structure,” County Administrator/Controller Kelli Scott said. “(There are a) lot of questions about how the authority will work, who’s in control, how the funding will work. And so after consulting with our board chair and vice chair, we have decided it doesn’t make any sense for the county to push forward with an initiative that’s really not ours.”

She said rather than a county initiative, it’s a community one.

“And if the community isn’t ready for that, there’s no reason for us to try to force that which we weren’t trying to do in the first place,” she said. “We stand by, ready, if there’s anything we can do to help bring public transportation to this county at any level that it is willing to support.”

The plan was to establish an authority that consolidated the Battle Creek and Marshall transportation systems and expand services countywide as early as 2024.

A county spokesperson told News 8 it’s not clear if or when the idea might be revisited.