PARKERSBURG -Officials with the city and the Mid-Ohio Valley Transit Authority are working on a deal to sell land along Camden Avenue for a new bus maintenance garage.
The authority has been shopping around for property to build a new 14,000-square-foot maintenance garage, said Tim Thomas, executive director of the authority.
"We've looked at several pieces of property up toward the Traffic Circle, Market Street and next door on Juliana, as well as two pieces on Camden Avenue," Thomas said.
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The city property along Camden Avenue could be the site of a new Mid-Ohio Valley Transit Authority maintenance garage. Representatives from the city and the authority are negotiating.
The property on Camden Avenue is the owned by the city. Thomas said the authority would like to purchase the lot that houses the fire station, but Mayor Bob Newell said that is unlikely because the sale would not be enough to cover rebuilding a new station.
"The city has to get enough to build a facility," the mayor said.
The transit authority would prefer to have a garage closer to the bus terminal but is having a hard time locating a clean site that suits its needs, Thomas said. Instead, officials are focusing on the city property at Camden Avenue and East Street, he said.
By working with the city, the transit authority has to deal with less paperwork because the phase I and II environmental assessments for the site have already been performed, Thomas said.
"The city (lot) is one of the preferred sites," he said. "It depends on the appraisal. It is workable."
Newell said the property has to be reappraised and that won't be completed until next month.
Once the reappraisal comes through, Thomas said it will be up to the transit authority to choose a site. He's hoping to have the project started by the summer, with a targeted completion of nine to 12 months. Transit officials are estimating the project will cost between $2 million-$3 million.
"That is well within our grant," Thomas said.
The authority recently approved the sale of its outdated garage on First Avenue to Jim McCutcheon for $155,000.
Newell said if the city and transit authority are able to reach an agreement on property the city would look to build a new service center as well. It could be built behind the Camden Avenue fire station or the new recycling center.
Newell said there would not be significant cost to the new garage. He said it would be similar to the building at the City Park.
"We had a company do the shell and the floor and we did the rest in-house," Newell said.
