BUENA PARK : Step Taken Toward City Train Station

Buena Park is getting on track to one day build a commuter rail station and transportation center.

The City Council, acting as the Community Redevelopment Agency, this week approved spending $13,000 to perform a soil study on five acres of county-owned property it plans to buy for a proposed train station.

May Hui, assistant director of development services, said a portion of the property at the northwest corner of Dale Avenue and Malvern Street was used by the County Flood Control District as a catch basin.

“The county has been moving soil and bringing in soil--we don’t know what’s there,” Hui said.

Hui said the study will find out if there is soil contamination or other problems, such as soil compaction, and will determine the soil’s makeup and moisture content. The study is needed in order to determine the value of the property and whether a building can be constructed there, she said. City Manager Kevin O’Rourke said the city has been eyeing the site for a future transportation center, which could also include a park-and-ride lot and bus station.

“Mass transit is becoming a reality in Orange County. This makes the most sense,” O’Rourke said.

Converse Environmental West of Irvine will perform the soil studies, with work expected to start in two weeks, Hui said. The work will take about six weeks to complete, she said.