Bedford Minuteman
Thursday, May 12, 2005

Hanscom Base decision expected tomorrow

By Paul M. Furfari/ Staff Writer

The defining moment on whether the Hanscom Air Force Base and the
Soldier Systems Center in Natick will close or remain open will occur
tomorrow as the Base Realignment and Closure (BRAC) Commission releases its
recommendations.

Everyone from politicians to town officials, defense contractors to
residents will be waiting for the BRAC list to be announced officially on
Friday. The list will then set the mode for the area's effort to either
remove the base from the list in the event it is slated to close or to keep
it off the list in case it is spared in the initial round.

The state and Hanscom towns have been supportive of keeping the base
operating in its present configuration but also have been receptive to the
option to expand Hanscom's mission.

"What we're hoping, of course, is that the base still remains open, if
that means expansion, then we will do what we can to accommodate that
expansion in terms of infrastructure and housing, whatever," said Bedford
Selectmen Chairman Gordon Feltman. "If we're on the list, I'm sure there
will be an enormous effort to convince the committee that it ought not be on
the list."

The Commission needs five votes to add an additional installation for
closing, but requires a super majority of seven votes to spare one and keep
it open.

"It says to the taxpayers of America, by golly, we care about your
dollars, and we're going to see that the dollars are spent in an intelligent
way on things that are actually needed, rather than wasted funds. So it's a
good thing, this BRAC," Defense Secretary Donald Rumsfeld said of BRAC in
March.

Lincoln Selectman and HATS Chairman Sara Mattes also announced at the
Lincoln Board of Selectmen meeting Monday night that the BRAC decision would
be made this week.

"If we're off the list, we're going to work like hell to stay off the
list," she said. "And if we're on the list, we're going to work like hell to
get off."

Mattes said she would receive e-mail confirmation concerning the
decision, which she will request to be posted on Lincoln's Web site,
www.lincolntown.org, and on the town's cable TV message board.

At a Massachusetts Defense Technology Initiative (MassDTI) meeting
Monday at the MITRE Center in Bedford, the organization briefed members on
the steps they will take in the event Hanscom and the Soldier Systems Center
are recommended for closure.

MassDTI has promoted the state as a hotbed for research and
development, intellectual expertise and willing workers that would further
the military's long-term goals.

"If there is a decision to keep them open, it's a pretty good
reflection of the military value argument," said MassDTI Executive Director
Alan Macdonald.

In the event that the installations are found on the closing list in
the next few days, Macdonald said: "obviously we will want to express some
disappointment at the failure of the Defense Department for not recognizing
that military value."

"If it's off the list, a significant amount of effort will continue to
make sure it doesn't slip onto the list," Feltman said reached by telephone.
"Whoever is being closed or recommended for closure, instead of Hanscom will
be working just as hard as the folks around here...," he said.

"The fact that you're on the list or not on the list is interesting, it
just defines what kind of work is ahead of you for the next few months," he
said.

Mary Ryan and Beth Mitchell, partners with the Boston law firm Nutter,
McClennen and Fish have worked with the towns affected by the Weymouth Naval
Air Station closure from Brac 1995. They've seen what can come out of a
partnership and the hurdles the Hanscom area towns may face in unifying as a
development authority.

The towns have begun planning for the closure scenario through a
pre-BRAC planning grant "so although everyone is hoping that Hanscom will
not be on the list, people have engaged in planning on both sides of the
issue," Ryan said.

"The state has committed substantial funds to prove the worth of
Hanscom, but at the same have begun a planning process for the alternative
'what if' scenario," she said.

In the event the base closes, Mitchell said the towns will have to
weigh the decision of who will take over as a planning authority for the
base property.

The authority would form "to figure out what they wanted to do with the
base, that process because there are a lot of competing interests as to what
they can do with the property, can take some time," she said.

"There may be some people that feel that existing town governments are
in place and can step up and take control of the property in their
boundaries, other people will think that a unique entity should handle the
redevelopment," Ryan said.

The Pentagon will release the list on its BRAC information Web site
www.defenselink.mil/brac following the decision. A press conference will be
held at Hanscom Friday afternoon to discuss the decision and its impact on
the region.

--BRAC timeline

May 13, 2005, Defense Secretary Donald H. Rumsfeld will forward the
department's recommendations to the BRAC Commission.

Sept. 8, 2005, the commission will then forward its report on the
recommendations to the President.

Sept. 23, 2005, the last day President Bush will have until to accept or
reject the recommendations in their entirety.

If accepted, Congress will have 45 legislative days to reject the
recommendations in their entirety or they become binding on the department.

Source: Department of Defense

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