New London — The school district is helping to find a new home for a fleet of school buses now that the city has opted not to renew a decades-old lease for property at Fort Trumbull.

M&T Parking, which has leased the property since the 1980s, was notified earlier this year that its lease would not be renewed. M&T had subleased the property to Student Transportation of America, which was told to vacate the 50,000-square-foot, fenced-in lot at 41 Walbach St. by June 30, 2019.

The fleet of about three dozen buses for now is being stored in Groton.

The school district is working with STA to find a nearby parcel of land and stem possible future transportation cost increases that might be associated with a move of the buses out of the city, school district Facilities Manager Miguel Gautier recently told the school board. STA would incur more costs associated with longer drives and longer hours for drivers.

The costs would not rise under the current contract, which expires June 30, 2019, school officials said. The school district has explored local parcels that have included an area off Cedar Grove Avenue.

In the absence of the buses, the city-owned parking lot at Fort Trumbull will provide an area for paid public parking, which is likely to be attractive to employees of nearby Electric Boat.

City Parking Director Carey Redd said while there is the potential for parking revenues, any short-term gains are outweighed by the opportunity for future economic development.

That development could include anything from an expansion of the adjacent wastewater treatment facility to use of the property in conjunction with a future development in the Fort Trumbull area. Nearby empty parcels are being marketed by the city’s development arm, the Renaissance City Development Association.

The parking lot is part of a larger city-owned parcel being leased and housing several businesses, including Peter S. Turello LLC, a construction and landscaping company. Terms of the lease or leases for use of the building at the site were not immediately available. The Day has a pending request for those documents.

Attorney Gordon Videll, who represents M&T Parking, said M&T was paying the city about $8,000 a year for use of the parking lot and providing insurance, maintenance and security at the site.

The city’s Parking Authority has discussed the potential for 100 parking spaces in the former bus lot but Redd said a final number would not be determined until “the lot is cleaned up and an evaluation of the property for public parking has been made.” There is also a small building at the site that was used by the bus company.

A rate for parking has not yet been determined, so it is unclear if the city stands to benefit financially in the short term by the move.

The city has through the years benefitted from the motor vehicle taxes on the buses. City tax records show about $38,000 in taxes paid on 26 buses this year, including bills in excess of $2,500 for each of nine newer leased buses. Tax Assessor Paige Walton, however, said Groton may have taxed STA for some buses actually housed in New London on Oct. 1, 2017, and the city may be due more taxes.

The cost of storing the buses and providing facilities is the responsibility of STA, according to terms of the contract signed with the school district in 2016. STA was the only company to bid on the transportation contract.

The school district budgeted $4.12 million for student transportation in its most current spending plan.

The school buses were removed from Fort Trumbull at least once before, in 2013, to help accommodate would-be Fort Trumbull developer Irwin Stillman. At the time, he was planning a 103-unit housing development on a nearby RCDA-controlled parcel.

At that time, the school buses found a home on Crystal Avenue, across the street from the public works fuel-filling station under the Gold Star Bridge. The idea of hosting the buses at New London High School was panned because of space concerns and potential disruptions at the school.

g.smith@theday.com