Grand Jury tells MPC to make a move on Fort Ord police training facility, or give it up.

Monterey Peninsula College had just come off of a successful $145 million bond measure vote when in 2003 its board of trustees inked an agreement with the Fort Ord Reuse Authority to accept transfer of three parcels of land totalling 536 acres on the former Army base. The plan was to develop them into training facilities for law enforcement, using at least part of the bond funds along with state and federal grants.

It’s 15 years later, and while MPC does operate its Law Enforcement Academy on one parcel, two others have remained in limbo.

Only $9.5 million remains of Measure I, which may not be enough to renovate those two parcels, which include the Military Operations Urban Terrain Facility, also known as the Impossible City, and the Emergency Vehicle Operations Course. According to a report by the Monterey County Civil Grand Jury released May 11, both facilities will require extensive infrastructure work. The grand jury’s bottom line: MPC needs to decide if it’s going to develop. If not, it needs to give up the land to someone who will.

The grand jury states it would be an asset to local law enforcement, and should be developed. The report mentions a 2014 grand jury report that suggested MPC and the Salinas Police Department negotiate to allow SWAT training at the Impossible City, but both Salinas Police Chief Adele Fresé and SWAT Cmdr. John Murray say they were not interviewed by the current grand jury.

Salinas SWAT has been able to use the facility with permission from Monterey Presidio Police, but Murray says scheduling is challenging – it’s been a couple of years since they’ve been there. “It certainly would be valuable to us if we had greater access,” he says.