A construction company is fixing problems with concrete floors that kept the new Island Transit facility near Coupeville from being deemed complete for nearly two years.

At the same time, the Island Transit board may not sell gazebos and a tractor, both of which were the focus of critics who believe they represented wasteful spending.

Oak Harbor Councilman Rick Almberg, chairman of the Island Transit board, spearheaded the effort to get the issues with the concrete floor finally resolved through negotiations with Tiger Construction, the company that built the facility.

He said about a half million dollars for subcontractors is being held in escrow, which means those businesses — which tend to be smaller, local companies — haven’t been paid for the work they did on the transit center.

“It’s really unconscionable,” he said. “That’s a lot of money to be tied up for so long.”

The $22.4-million facility on State Highway 20 was funded with a $17.9-million federal grant, with a match of local funds. The grand opening was held in May 2014.

The problem was that cracks developed in the concrete floor of the large maintenance building. Almberg explained that the floor was one continuous concrete slab that was poured at different times.

The project could not be deemed completed and money released from escrow until the cracking issue was resolved.

Island Transit Interim Director Ken Graska said it turned out that the “shrinkage cracks” were not structural, which means they won’t go deep and won’t affect the durability of the floor.

Other problems with the floor are being addressed, he said.

Tiger Construction agreed to fix bubbles on the surface of the floor in some areas; the bubbles are being sanded out and a new topping applied.

In locker rooms, imperfections were covered with a new, epoxy coating. And saw cuts in the concrete were filled in with caulk.

The buildings that make up the facility — for a combined total of 54,588 square feet — became a point of contention after financial problems came to light last year, forcing the agency to lay off staff and cut routes.

Critics maintain that the project was too lavish and helped lead to IT’s financial problems.

The agency had to pay back about $108,000 in federal funds spent on things that didn’t qualify. Among the items were two gazebos and a tractor.

To recoup some of that money, the new Island Transit board members hoped to sell the items.

Almberg said the board largely abandoned plans to sell off the $7,000 gazebos since no sellers came forward; also, he said they worried they could lose money because of the expense to landscape the areas where the gazebos now sit.

Some staff members are pushing hard to keep the $20,000 tractor, which is used for snow removal and the lifting of a large manhole cover, he said.

IT board members decided to put off any decision on the tractor, but Almberg said he will urge them to sell it. He said they could probably get more than $20,000 for the equipment, which has only about 11 hours on it.

It would cost much less to rent equipment when necessary, he said. “It just doesn’t make economic sense to keep it.”