Lincoln Journal
Thursday, March 17, 2005

Services impacted if Hanscom closes
By Danielle Masterson/ Correspondent

Editor's note: This story is the second in a series that looks at the
importance of Hanscom Air Force Base to the surrounding communities, the
possible impact of its closure and its proposed expansion.

For more than 60 years, the four towns that house Hanscom Air Force
Base have been impacted by its presence. But even if the base is closed as
part of the federal government's Base Realignment and Closure (BRAC)
program, the base will continue to impact Lincoln, Lexington, Bedford and
Concord.

"From the perspective of the towns, we support the effort the state is
making to keep the base open," said Lincoln Town Administrator Tim Higgins.
"It is such an important part of the Massachusetts economy, defense and
research... But in the event the base is on the list and it closes, we're
trying to develop a contingency plan so we're prepared for the worst if that
comes to pass."

As part of BRAC, the federal government's Department of Defense
evaluates bases across the country and determines whether the bases should
remain open or close. On May 16, town officials are expecting to hear
whether or not Hanscom has been included on the BRAC 2005 list. If the base
is on the list, the federal government will either approve or disapprove of
Hanscom's realignment or closure in October.

The 846-acre Hanscom Air Force Base employs 8,500 personnel, including
military reservists, civilians and approximately 3,000 uniformed and
non-uniformed personnel. The base also has 850 housing units, which
generated 525 kindergarten through eighth-grade students and 113 high school
pupils in the 2004-2005 school year.

If the base closes, the housing numbers could dramatically affect
Lincoln and its operating budget, said Higgins.

"The housing would likely come into private ownership," explained
Higgins. "The private owner would expect that the town of Lincoln would be
providing full municipal services, including education."

The housing, which is located entirely in Lincoln, would drastically
increase the town's population by 40 percent.

"That large an increase in population would cause us to rethink how we
deliver every service," said Higgins. "The School Committee would be
confronted with the question of whether or not to continue a two-campus
school system and how they might reorganize school services to accommodate a
large increase in school population. The Fire Department would have to
consider whether they could respond to north Lincoln in a short amount of
time without a second station. Everything down to how we conduct elections
with the number of election workers and voting booths would be affected."

Higgins said the town currently conducts services for a 5,600-person
population.

"If we were to grow by 40 percent overnight, we would have to
re-examine all of the services," continued the Lincoln town administrator.
"Financially, it's a real challenge because of Lincoln's tax structure.
Right now the average value of a home in Lincoln is $1 million. The average
home generates about $10,000 in tax revenues... Even with some improvement,
we don't anticipate the housing stock on the base will have that type of
value, which means that there will not be sufficient tax revenues generated
to provide services."

--Schools

Lincoln currently operates two schools on the base - a kindergarten
through third-grade elementary school and a fourth- through eighth-grade
middle school - in addition to an integrated preschool program and the
public schools in Lincoln.

According to Lincoln Superintendent Mickey Brandmeyer, the town employs
126 teachers and staff members at the two Hanscom schools. The 69 teachers
are part of the Lincoln Teachers Association and enjoy the schoolteachers'
contract benefits, including seniority and bumping rights should any
positions be eliminated.

Brandmeyer said there are several different possible scenarios
regarding the base and its teachers and students.

"In the simplest form, if the base were to close and all the families
left the area and there was no housing, the schools would go away," said the
Lincoln superintendent. "But if the housing was awarded to a private
contractor who will build the housing and the base will remain federal
territory, the kids would still have to be educated. If the base were to go
away and the houses would remain Lincoln property, they would have to attend
Lincoln schools and that would impact us because we don't have the space."

"Until the federal government makes up its mind on what it is going to
do with BRAC, and whether Hanscom is on the list or not, it's hard for us to
begin planning," added Brandmeyer. "As much as we have asked, they just
don't know."

Bedford High School, which is under agreement with the federal
government to educate Hanscom students once they reach ninth grade, will
lose approximately 17 percent of its pupil population if the base closes.

"If the base were to close and we had a reduction in the school
population, we would look at a reduction of staff at the high school level,"
said Bedford Superintendent Maureen LeCroix. "What that reduction would look
like, I'm not sure at this point in time. It would affect a number of
different academic areas. If you are losing 25 students in grade one, you
would cut one teacher, but at the high school level, because everyone takes
so many different courses, it is more complex."

--Public safety

In addition to the area schools, Concord Fire Chief Ken Willette said
the four towns' public safety departments could also be affected by
Hanscom's closure.

While the base is open, it operates its own fire department, which also
responds to mutual aid calls for the surrounding towns. According to
Willette, the mutual aid agreement goes both ways, but since November 2003,
the Concord Fire Department has not had to respond to an incident on the
base, while Hanscom firefighters have responded to Concord mutual aid
requests at least a half-dozen times.

Willette said a possibility is that Hanscom's Fire Department would
remain a fire services entity even if the base closes. But if the department
is shut down, the mutual aid call volume will shift to other communities,
mostly Lincoln and Bedford.

"The fire services are known to be able to react to conditions and
adapt," said Willette. "We would have to adapt, but the bottom line is we
would have to reach further into our neighboring communities and it would
take longer for them to respond because they are geographically further
away."

Although Hanscom's four towns are trying to develop contingency plans
in case the base is included on the May 16 BRAC list - Higgins said Lincoln
is considering a budget for if the base remains open and another for if the
base is closed - officials are hopeful that the base will remain open.

Lincoln selectmen and Hanscom Area Towns Selectmen Chairman Sara Mattes
said the towns are actively campaigning to keep the base open through
Massachusetts Defense Technology Initiative (MassDTI), a public-private
partnership focused on preserving and enhancing the mission of both Hanscom
Air Force Base and the United States Army Soldier Systems Center of Natick.

"We are looking at ways of enhancing the capabilities of the base and
addressing cost issues," said Mattes.

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