MST abandons plan to build a garage on Fort Ord.

Monterey-Salinas Transit has long been bursting at the seams, short on space to house dozens of costly buses in garages.

Five years ago, MST had a plan: Build a new facility on the former Fort Ord, next to a site that would also house a business park called Whispering Oaks. The plan called for cutting down thousands of trees. Despite public outcry, the County Board of Supervisors approved the plan in 2011; 18,000 signatures flooded in, calling for a referendum. Pre-empting a costly and embarrassing public vote, the supervisors reversed course – leaving MST without a place to park its fleet.

Five years later, MST has moved on. “We reached the conclusion that any significant development on Fort Ord is not foreseeable for us until other issues resolve,” MST General Manager Carl Sedoryk says. “We can’t wait.”

That means a whole new approach: Instead of one large, centralized facility, MST is looking to three smaller-scale projects.

One is an expansion at its existing Ryan Ranch headquarters in Monterey. MST closed a deal in January, buying a nearby office building for $3.5 million. They’ll move their offices down the block, and existing office space will be converted into a garage.

Sedoryk estimates the move will save $300,000 a year on fuel and labor for 25 vehicles; due to space constraints, many Peninsula routes begin parked in Salinas, then ride empty (with the message “out of service”) for the first and last legs of their journey every day.

Part two of MST’s plan is to eventually expand its existing Salinas facility – which was designed to house 23 buses and today holds 33 – though there’s no immediate project in the works.

Part three is the newest concept: Build a new garage in South County. King City City Council voted Feb. 9 to sell a dusty, unpaved 4.8-acre lot to MST for $470,500.

To develop that land, MST is seeking $8 million in funding from an unusual source: the U.S. Department of Agriculture.

“A lot of times, rural areas struggle to gain capital for various reasons,” USDA spokesperson Sarah Marquart says. “Our agency provides financing to give rural areas the competitive edge a lot of urban areas already have access to.”

Last year, USDA’s community facilities program invested $75 million in 15 projects across California. The program has funded projects like water systems, public libraries and even a city hall in Arroyo Grande – a deal Steve Adams, now city manager of King City, executed in his previous job there.

In January, USDA pre-approved MST’s application for a low-interest, no-fee loan for the transit facility, which is expected to create 12 full-time mechanic jobs.

Sedoryk credits Mary Ann Leffel, president of the Monterey County Business Council, for pointing MST to the USDA. Last year, Leffel convened a group, including a USDA rural development rep, to talk about expanding broadband service in rural Monterey County – which MST supports, because its long-range routes (to as far as Paso Robles and the San Jose airport) offer Wi-Fi, and broadband would be cheaper than satellite, which is currently used.

“This project diversifies the economy, and it’s not seasonal work,” Leffel says.