Posts Tagged ‘BRAC’

The State Department has revealed its plans for the 43.5-acre portion of the former Walter Reed Army Medical Center it requested from the Army — a foreign missions center to accommodate new embassies for foreign governments. State’s proposal for the center in upper Northwest Washington would be similar to the International Chancery Center located closer to the downtown core of Washington that has more than a dozen foreign missions. The agency now is in the early stages of drafting a master plan for developing the site, located in the northwest portion of the hospital campus. State is preparing an environmental impact statement for the project, which could take up to two years to complete, reported the Washington Business Journal …

Before passing a $606 billion fiscal 2013 defense spending bill Thursday evening, the House approved language prohibiting funds from being used to plan or implement a new base closure round. The amendment, sponsored by Rep. Rob Wittman, echoed a provision he added to the defense authorization bill in May. The amendment may be overkill, since both chambers’ versions of the authorization bill ignore DOD’s request for BRAC rounds in 2013 and 2015, but it certainly underscores the lack of tolerance for another BRAC round among House members …

Griffiss International Airport, which became Oneida County’s airport in 2007 more than a decade after the former Air Force base there was closed, is due for a new master plan. Only about 80 percent of the projects included in the first master plan for the airport in north central New York have been completed, but the Federal Aviation Administration requires master plans to be updated roughly every 10 years, reports the Observer-Dispatch. The new master plan likely will call for a new terminal, a U.S. Customs facility and the development of available land for new tenants …

On a 414-2 vote, the House passed a bill requiring the White House to explain how $109 billion in automatic cuts to fiscal 2013 spending would be implemented across defense and domestic programs. The administration would have 30 days to report how it will address the cuts at the “program, project and activity level …

The D.C. Council last week voted to send its redevelopment plan for 67.5 acres at the former Walter Reed Army Medical Center to the Department of Housing and Urban Development, bringing the city one step closer to realizing a new mix of uses at the site in Northwest Washington. The vote ensures the city will meet its Aug. 14 deadline for submitting the plan to federal officials …

In an interview following a campaign event outside of Richmond, Va., last week, President Obama told a reporter from a Hampton Roads television station that he would not support a new round of base closures. “I don’t think now is the time for BRAC, we just went through some base closings and the strategy that we have does not call for that,” Obama told WAVY ….

The Pentagon on Monday released $180 million to widen U.S. Route 1 through Fort Belvoir for a project intended to ease access to the Northern Virginia post for patients, service members and civilian workers at the new Fort Belvoir Community Hospital. The funds were disbursed by the Office of Economic Adjustment under a $300 million appropriation in the fiscal 2011 defense spending bill for transportation projects needed to improve access to medical facilities affected by BRAC 2005 …

Brunswick Landing, the redevelopment project at the former Brunswick Naval Air Station, has been awarded a $2 million grant by the Federal Aviation Administration to build new hangars and make other improvements to the general aviation airport the Midcoast Regional Redevelopment Authority opened last year. Brunswick Executive Airport will receive $600,000 to replace military markings on the airfield with civilian ones and $1.4 million to construct a building with hangars to hold 10 private aircraft …

Officials from 15 north Alabama school districts met with legislators Thursday to discuss how they could obtain a share of $175 million in funds to build and renovate schools trying to accommodate swelling enrollments due to BRAC growth at Redstone Arsenal. In April, the Alabama legislature amended the 2010 law establishing the state bonding authority to make it easier for the school systems to qualify …

The North Carolina state budget for the first time includes funds to help communities support their local military bases. The $500,000 that lawmakers included in the fiscal 2012-2013 budget is not intended only to help stave off the possibility of a base closure, according to Craven County Commissioner Scott Dacey. “It has moved into sequestration that could force cuts that are largely arbitrary and place the warfighter into a compromised position …