Members of the State College Borough Council discussed the location of the new bus facility and the west commuter parking deck, which is part of the West Campus Development, last night during a work session.

Last week, a real estate consultant hired by the borough recommended that the property on the corner of Garner Street and East Beaver Avenue house the new bus facility.

Members of the council raised concerns about the location because of the nature of the selection process.

Borough Council President Tom Daubert said he was hesitant to seriously consider the Garner Street location because economic development was a driving force behind the decision.

"I don't think that should be the guiding principle," he said. "It should be in the best interest of the community."

A main point of conflict is the question of whether the bus facility would serve as simply a bus terminal or part of the economic development of the downtown area.

"We're finding out that you can't get everything you wish for," council member Jeff Kern said.

Kern said that if the main purpose of the facility was to build a bus terminal then other locations could be preferable to the Garner Street location. He added that the council has been proceeding with plans to build a new terminal as if the facility would also include parking, stores and restaurants.

Council member Elizabeth Goreham said the current bus station doesn't make enough of a profit, so to focus on economic development made sense.

"It's not a revenue generator," she said. "It's a loser as far as ours is concerned."

A possible lack of federal funding to help pay for the new facility and local residents' dissatisfaction with the Garner Street location also add to the obstacles the council faces.

Goreham said that a study determined two years ago that students would be most comfortable with the new facility as close to the current Greyhound Bus station, 152 N. Atherton St., as possible. If not, students were receptive to having a bus station close to the west campus commuter parking garage.

Borough Manager Tom Fountaine said that because part of the purpose of the project was economic development, the west campus site would not serve the borough's purpose.

"The west campus site is still a viable option," he said. "One of our primary goals is economic. If not, then the west campus site works just fine."

Penn State Director of Transportation Teresa Davis said the parking garage would be completed sometime in 2007.

The parking garage would be built over existing parking adjacent to the White Course Apartments on the west side of campus. Phase one of the project would involve building the first level of the garage, creating 300 spaces.

Director of Campus Planning and Design Gordon Turow said faculty, students and staff parking in the garage would take transit into the "core" of the university on an extension of White Course Drive that would be for bus traffic only.

Davis said the bus traffic would circle inside the new garage and return to campus on White Course the same way it came in. She added the new bus route would be some form of the Centre Area Transportation Authority Link service.

"It would be some type of modification of the Link," she said. "We'd need more discussion."

Although no formal plans have been made, Kern said it could be a possibility to "remove 10 spaces" from the proposed west campus commuter parking garage and accommodate the average of nine buses a day.

"If we just want to park buses for a half hour, why don't we tie it into east and west campus parking?" Kern asked.

Zack Bush contributed to this report