The Moffat County commissioners were hesitant Tuesday to guarantee the Steamboat Springs Transit Department that the county would sell an old building to convert into a bus garage.

But the commissioners said they would work with the Steamboat Transit officials to make a deal agreeable to both parties.

Steamboat Transit, Moffat County and the city of Craig have been discussing the deal for the past year. The transit authority hopes to purchase from the county an old Road and Bridge Department shop at the Moffat County Fairgrounds.

If the deal goes through, Steamboat Transit would demolish the building and rebuild a bus garage and parking lot, Transit Director George Krawzoff told the commissioners.

Steamboat Transit’s regional buses run from Craig to Steamboat each morning and return in the afternoon.

Preliminary estimates for the building and the 1.4 acres on which it sits have ranged from $115,000 to $150,000. Steamboat and Moffat County will work together to select an appraiser to set a price for the building.

“I have no objections with getting a certified appraisal of the property,” Commissioner Saed Tayyara said.

Winnie DelliQuadri of Steamboat’s intergovernmental department said the city might ask for a price break depending on the assessed value of the building.

In light of the county’s financial situation, the commissioners expressed skepticism about whether they could grant such a request.

“We’ve never approached it as Moffat County should donate the whole thing.

“We’ll find the appraised value and reach an agreement,” DelliQuadri said.

Even though the building must be destroyed, Steamboat Transit still wants the site, Krawzoff said.

“The building must be scrapped, but the location is ideal,” he said.

Regional buses will travel a circuit through Craig, and the bus garage will be at the closing point of the circuit. That way, riders can board the bus as it leaves town and exit the bus as it enters town.

The garage also will provide protection for two new buses Steamboat Transit recently purchased for $375,000.

The site has room for 50 parking spaces. Steamboat Transit hopes to begin parking buses at the site as soon as May.

The project is funded by a $500,000 energy impact grant the city of Craig received from the state Department of Local Affairs and $343,000 in Federal Transit Administration funds.

Regional transportation has existed in the Yampa Valley for the past 10 years, when the valley’s governing entities together obtained a grant to purchase a bus, Delliquadri said.

Rob Gebhart can be reached at 824-7031 or rgebhart@craigdailypress.com.