The Moffat County Commission and the Craig City Council have been participating in negotiations for the Craig Police Department to remain in the Moffat County Public Safety Center.

Our discussion began in 2010 with an agreement that the “emphasis is on fair, but reasonable costs, with the primary goal to keep all entities in one facility and maintain the relationships.”

The voter intent from the 1997 election was to establish a public safety center that would house the police department, Moffat County Sheriff’s Office, Colorado State Patrol, Regional Telecommunication Center and a commonly used jail facility.

We are still committed to keeping all law enforcement in the public safety center.

Both sides have agreed that purchase of space is the best way to make that happen.

The parties have also agreed to the amount of space to be purchased.

As you know, Moffat County has presented an offer of $1.083 million and the city has offered $736,120 for the space.

That means the two sides are $346,880 apart.

Everyone has worked hard during these negotiations and both sides certainly feel their offers are fair and just.

However, we have heard our community, and believe a compromise is in the best interest of everyone.

To honor the citizens’ intentions and to come to an agreement, Moffat County is willing to split the difference between the two offers and meet in the middle.

This agreement would be 18-percent less than the initial 2001 cost to build the agreed upon space, including the proportional amount of engineering, site preparation and other actual construction costs.

We urge the city council to accept this offer and bring closure to this issue.

Thank you for your patience as we work together for the good of our community.