It’s funny how bad decisions keep coming back to haunt you.

Six years ago Chautauqua County needed to find a new home for its bus system after National Comedy Center officials asked that CARTS not use the area in front of the center as its downtown hub – even though that was one of the transportation-related uses the former Erie-Lackawanna Railroad Station was originally renovated to house.

County officials made their way down Third Street and purchased the former Ray Nelson Service Station at 215 E. Third St. to be the new CARTS hub. We weren’t crazy about the move at the time. The lot was small, the service station building was small, but at least it was flat and located near Jamestown’s City Hall.

Now, though, the price tag for that decision is compounding. It was originally believed it would cost $500,000 to remodel the service station. Then the cost increased to $820,000, $605,000 coming from a state grant, $100,000 coming from American Rescue Plan Act funding and the rest from the county’s capital reserve fund. Now, we find out the service station building is too far gone to be renovated and the county either has to buy the Geer-Dunn store behind the service station lot or build a new building on Third Street at a much higher cost than originally anticipated.

The Geer Dunn space is too big for CHQ Transit’s needs, but county officials say other offices could be moved into the space too. Of course, there is a downside – it takes another property off the tax rolls. Ideally, a private buyer would purchase the site for a new use, whether it be offices or retail, and keep the property generating property taxes so the rest of us aren’t paying more.

Before we throw good money after bad, let’s take a step back from the problem. The county owns a flat lot where it can park CHQ Transit buses. The real problem is a place for riders to wait for their bus. Is Jamestown’s City Hall lobby not a perfect place for that to take place? The building is handicapped-accessible, with ramps in front of the building. There are first-floor bathrooms and plenty of space in the lobby for riders to wait. There is only one problem – we’re sure people will balk at going through security to get inside out of the cold in the winter.

Using the first floor of City Hall makes a lot more financial sense, in our view, than spending more money to fit a square peg into a round hole.