A railroad maintenance yard crucial to the progression of the Gold Line Foothill Extension appears destined for Monrovia as long as a plan to build it there survives the environmental review process.

The Metro Gold Line Foothill Extension Construction Authority held a public hearing at Arcadia City Hall Wednesday to present its plans for the maintenance facility. The meeting lasted less than 30 minutes, with only two members of the public addressing the project.

Habib Balian, the chief executive officer of the construction authority, told the sparse crowd that his agency has identified three potential sites--two in Monrovia, one in Irwindale--where the rail yard could go. The facility must be completed before the second phase of the Gold Line can be extended to Azusa.

Mayor Mary Ann Lutz said in an interview after the meeting that the city has a preliminary agreement in place with the construction authority to locate the maintenance facility in Monrovia.

"We have an agreement in principle right now," Lutz said.

The site--deemed "Option A" by the construction authority--would be 28 acres of land near Evergreen and Shamrock Avenues, according to Balian. The yard would serve as a repair station for about 84 electric rail cars, he said.

Lutz said city officials are amenable to locating the yard in Monrovia because no other city has expressed an interest in hosting it.

"No other city is even willing to discuss it at this point," Lutz said.

But Monrovia is willing to take it if it will expedite the Gold Line extension, Lutz said.

"The region will get the train--that's the biggest and most compelling reason," she said.

The yard would also bring 200 to 300 new jobs to the city, as well as allow for the progression of the city's massive Station Square development, a mixed-use transit center that will be build around the Gold Line.

The construction authority has completed an environmental impact report that determined the Monrovia site would be suitable for the yard, Balian said. The public has the opportunity to comment on the report until Nov.8.

Joel Covarrubias was one of two citizens to speak about the project during the Oct. 27 meeting. He loved the idea.

"The project is looking really good," Covarrubias said, who commutes to work in Monrovia. "I'm sure everybody will appreciate me getting off the street … and taking the train to work."

Another member of the public, Yolanda Gutierrez, of Duarte, said she was concerned construction of the train near her home would be noisy and inconvenient. But she plans to move away anyway, she said.

In late December, the construction authority's board will vote on where to locate the maintenance facility. If the Monrovia site is approved, the MTA could break ground on the project a few months after that, Lutz said.

The city owns more than 50 percent of the land located in a light industrial zone where the yard would go, but the MTA would be responsible for securing the rest. Lutz said business owners in that area have not protested about selling their property to make room for the site.

"To my knowledge, nobody is actually resistant," Lutz said.

If the yard soon finds a home in Monrovia or elsewhere, construction on the foothill extension itself would begin in July 2011 and would be scheduled for completion by 2014, Balian said.