The Asbury Park Press this morning reports that Capt. David "Fuzz" Harrison was sworn in as the new commander at Naval Weapons Station Earle and that Capt. Gary Maynard is headed for greener pastures (and presumably fewer headaches) in Hawaii. NOPE welcomes Capt. Harrison and wishes nothing but the best for Capt. Maynard during his transition to Pearl Harbor.
The transition to Capt. Harrison is likely a non-issue regarding the Laurelwood housing issue, considering NOPE's recognition (unlike the media's, and APP's Jim McConville in today's report) that all shots on the proposed civilian rental are being called MUCH higher up the Department of Navy food chain in Washington, D.C. McConville could not be more wrong in reporting that Capt. Maynard "was also in the middle of a protracted and sometimes bitter dispute with Colts Neck residents over the Navy's proposal to lease to civilians its Laurelwood housing area." NO ONE started a dispute specifically with Capt. Maynard, an important member of our Monmouth County community. (Too, the "dispute" goes well beyond Colts Neck...all the way up to the U.S. Senate, in fact.)
No one was at loggerheads with Capt. Maynard, personally. The discrepancy remains squarely with the DoN, which put Capt. Maynard (and now Capt. Harrison) in the middle of a PR firestorm with not only the NOPE community, but more significantly, our representatives in D.C. (i.e. Senators Menendez and Lautenberg, Congressmen Smith and Holt), who have objections with the DoN's Laurelwood housing plan.
More interestingly in today's APP story, Mr. McConville reports that "a final decision on use of the housing complex is still yet to be made." We will follow up with Mr. McConville for clarification on his wording, but NOPE has been under the impression (as detailed by the Navy in its obviously flawed EIS) that the final decision has already been made - that the military-use phase (i.e. "in-lease") expires April 30 and the civilian rental phase (i.e. "out-lease") begins May 1, and civilian renters could reside at Laurelwood as soon as this September.
If Mr. McConville's quote is accurate, this could signal that the DoN is having a change of heart that, as NOPE has argued for 2+ years, civilian housing and unimpeded access (for anyone who can cut a rent check) inside an active Naval ordnance storage facility for the next 30 years, is a horrible move from security, business-case and environmental/health perspectives. We will alert NOPE supporters of any feedback on our followup with Mr. McConville.
Friday, February 19, 2010
Thursday, February 18, 2010
S762 Passes NJ Senate Committee
Good news out of Trenton this afternoon...the Senate's Community and Urban Affairs Committee, now headed by District 1 Senator Jeff Van Drew, PASSED a proposed Laurelwood housing cost-benefits analysis study by the N.J. Treasurer 4-0 (with 1 abstention), known as Bill No. 762. (The companion Assembly measure is A2014.)
NOPE legislative liaison Elaine Mann, who testified at this morning's hearing along with business case analyst...and Army veteran...Fulton Wilcox (communications director Diana Piotrowski also attended), informs us that she has already reached out to new Senate President Steven Sweeney (District 3) to "post" (a procedural move) the bill for full Senate approval, which we hope for sooner rather than later. We are still looking into whether the Assembly will have to rehear the measure, but we'll keep everyone posted.
Again, S762-A2014 is a practical, common sense measure that, along with the U.S. congressional (i.e., Government Accountability Office, or GAO) study underway, will validate NOPE's concerns about civilian housing at NWS Earle as a serious security compromise and about a half-billion-dollar unfunded mandate to New Jersey. NOPE will continue to press the community's objections as we approach the Department of Navy's "out-lease" (i.e. civilian rental) phase of an antiquated 52-year housing contract with Laurelwood Homes LLC.
Listen, too, to "The Breeze" (107.1 and 99.7 FM), to catch their reporting of today's events, and featuring commentary from Fulton about NOPE's objection to civilian housing at NWS Earle.
NOPE legislative liaison Elaine Mann, who testified at this morning's hearing along with business case analyst...and Army veteran...Fulton Wilcox (communications director Diana Piotrowski also attended), informs us that she has already reached out to new Senate President Steven Sweeney (District 3) to "post" (a procedural move) the bill for full Senate approval, which we hope for sooner rather than later. We are still looking into whether the Assembly will have to rehear the measure, but we'll keep everyone posted.
Again, S762-A2014 is a practical, common sense measure that, along with the U.S. congressional (i.e., Government Accountability Office, or GAO) study underway, will validate NOPE's concerns about civilian housing at NWS Earle as a serious security compromise and about a half-billion-dollar unfunded mandate to New Jersey. NOPE will continue to press the community's objections as we approach the Department of Navy's "out-lease" (i.e. civilian rental) phase of an antiquated 52-year housing contract with Laurelwood Homes LLC.
Listen, too, to "The Breeze" (107.1 and 99.7 FM), to catch their reporting of today's events, and featuring commentary from Fulton about NOPE's objection to civilian housing at NWS Earle.
Tuesday, February 16, 2010
NOPE ally seen as next head to defense subcommittee
Norman Dicks, a representative from Washington state and co-signor with Rep. Rush Holt of this April 17, 2009 letter to the Department of Navy installations chief requesting a cost-benefits analysis of the Laurelwood civilian housing plan, is poised to head the U.S House Appropriations Committee's defense subcommittee, according to The (Tacoma, WA) News Tribune.
Admittedly a highly speculative angle, this is potentially good news for NOPE and service members who work at NWS Earle who we understand do not want civilian housing, in that Mr. Dicks' control over the $650 million discretionary portion of the Pentagon's budget could prove favorable in funding that the DoN would need in the F2011 Defense Authorization to buy out Laurelwood Homes, LLC and make this ill-fated contract go away once and for all. The DoN's contention all along has been that it cannot afford a buyout, but perhaps with Mr. Dicks' recognition of the Laurelwood housing plan, an appropriate, expedient buyout will be budgeted. NOPE will stay on top of this story.
Admittedly a highly speculative angle, this is potentially good news for NOPE and service members who work at NWS Earle who we understand do not want civilian housing, in that Mr. Dicks' control over the $650 million discretionary portion of the Pentagon's budget could prove favorable in funding that the DoN would need in the F2011 Defense Authorization to buy out Laurelwood Homes, LLC and make this ill-fated contract go away once and for all. The DoN's contention all along has been that it cannot afford a buyout, but perhaps with Mr. Dicks' recognition of the Laurelwood housing plan, an appropriate, expedient buyout will be budgeted. NOPE will stay on top of this story.
Friday, February 12, 2010
NJ Senate committee to address S762 on Feb. 18
NOPE will be in Trenton on Thursday, February 18, to testify - if needed - in favor of S762, the Senate measure to conduct a cost benefits analysis of the proposed Laurelwood civilian housing conversion at Naval Weapons Station Earle.
The Community and Urban Affairs Committee, which passed the measure unanimously during the 2009-10 legislative session, will again consider this bill (at 10 a.m., Committee Room 1 in the State House Annex in Trenton), which remains intact from its predecessor (S3017), which then-Senate President Codey refused to post for a full Senate vote for no good reason. Mr. Codey unexplainably set this important, rational and nonpartisan bill back by at least a month, in essence, but we are positive it will pass this time.
S762 would give New Jerseyans a true cost assessment of an unfundated mandate from the Department of Navy. NOPE, again, estimates the cost to all parties for the civilian housing plan (i.e. area residents, New Jersey taxpayers, the Navy, Laurelwood Homes) will run at least a half-billion dollars and must be considered before the DoN goes thru with opening its highly secure base to anyone that can cut a rent check.
The Community and Urban Affairs Committee, which passed the measure unanimously during the 2009-10 legislative session, will again consider this bill (at 10 a.m., Committee Room 1 in the State House Annex in Trenton), which remains intact from its predecessor (S3017), which then-Senate President Codey refused to post for a full Senate vote for no good reason. Mr. Codey unexplainably set this important, rational and nonpartisan bill back by at least a month, in essence, but we are positive it will pass this time.
S762 would give New Jerseyans a true cost assessment of an unfundated mandate from the Department of Navy. NOPE, again, estimates the cost to all parties for the civilian housing plan (i.e. area residents, New Jersey taxpayers, the Navy, Laurelwood Homes) will run at least a half-billion dollars and must be considered before the DoN goes thru with opening its highly secure base to anyone that can cut a rent check.
Wednesday, February 10, 2010
Tinton Falls resolution passes, and NOPE will continue its EPA challenge by going to President Obama's "CEQ"
Confirmed this morning by Councilman Scott Larkin, the Tinton Falls Borough Council, as anticipated, last night passed a resolution supporting the Beck-Casagrande-O'Scanlon legislation in Trenton (S762-A2014) pushing for a cost-benefits analysis of the Laurelwood civilian housing plan at NWS Earle. NOPE appreciates the Council's continued support on all fronts.
Meanwhile, NOPE is drafting a letter to Nancy Sutley, Chair of the President's Council on Environmental Quality (CEQ), which NOPE has learned from mostly fruitless dealings with the EPA, enforces the National Environmental Policy Act of 1969, or "NEPA." We will post that letter here, once completed.
In short...through letters, a postcard campaign and phone calls, NOPE has long encouraged the EPA to withdraw its favorable rating of the Laurelwood Environmental Impact Statement, which violated NEPA, namely by obscuring the Department of Navy's true "purpose and need" for converting Laurelwood into a free-for-all rental complex through 2040. The EPA, however, argued in a December, 2009 letter that it does not have NEPA-enforcement powers, and therefore will not consider revising its rating.
So, NOPE is now going above the EPA and challenging President Obama's CEQ to probe this matter, which hopefully will prod the EPA, as our nation's environmental PROTECTION agency, to revise its Laurelwood rating with respect to information sufficiency, for the EIS commentary the EPA put forth was clearly based on misleading information provided by NAVFAC, a Naval agency. NOPE charges the DoN with misleading the public on its true need to rent military housing to civilians, which is solely to avoid a $3.5-$4 million annual rent payment to Laurelwood Homes, LLC...and nothing more.
Environmentally speaking, the "No Build Option" for what to do with the Laurelwood housing (i.e. do not build a 2-mile unimpeded access road thru an active and highly secure weapons base, do not let civilians live at NWS Earle) written off by the DoN as infeasible clearly is feasible based on what we now know (i.e. that the agreement automatically goes to buyout by May 1 if the Navy picks "No Build") and will have the least detriment to the environment...something the EPA should have recognized in its EIS response.
Maybe pressure on the CEQ helps...maybe it doesn't. Either way, NOPE will continue to press forward on this front and all others.
Meanwhile, NOPE is drafting a letter to Nancy Sutley, Chair of the President's Council on Environmental Quality (CEQ), which NOPE has learned from mostly fruitless dealings with the EPA, enforces the National Environmental Policy Act of 1969, or "NEPA." We will post that letter here, once completed.
In short...through letters, a postcard campaign and phone calls, NOPE has long encouraged the EPA to withdraw its favorable rating of the Laurelwood Environmental Impact Statement, which violated NEPA, namely by obscuring the Department of Navy's true "purpose and need" for converting Laurelwood into a free-for-all rental complex through 2040. The EPA, however, argued in a December, 2009 letter that it does not have NEPA-enforcement powers, and therefore will not consider revising its rating.
So, NOPE is now going above the EPA and challenging President Obama's CEQ to probe this matter, which hopefully will prod the EPA, as our nation's environmental PROTECTION agency, to revise its Laurelwood rating with respect to information sufficiency, for the EIS commentary the EPA put forth was clearly based on misleading information provided by NAVFAC, a Naval agency. NOPE charges the DoN with misleading the public on its true need to rent military housing to civilians, which is solely to avoid a $3.5-$4 million annual rent payment to Laurelwood Homes, LLC...and nothing more.
Environmentally speaking, the "No Build Option" for what to do with the Laurelwood housing (i.e. do not build a 2-mile unimpeded access road thru an active and highly secure weapons base, do not let civilians live at NWS Earle) written off by the DoN as infeasible clearly is feasible based on what we now know (i.e. that the agreement automatically goes to buyout by May 1 if the Navy picks "No Build") and will have the least detriment to the environment...something the EPA should have recognized in its EIS response.
Maybe pressure on the CEQ helps...maybe it doesn't. Either way, NOPE will continue to press forward on this front and all others.
Tuesday, February 9, 2010
80 days and counting...(and two quick briefs)
The expiration of the Department of Navy's in-lease on Laurelwood housing and proposed conversion to civilian housing for the next 30 years is only 80 days away. NOPE continues to monitor any permit applications from the DoN and its developer, Laurelwood Homes, LLC, but has no new information beyond the Dec. 23 letter we blogged about January 23 and remains confident that the DoN-Laurelwood will relent to some kind of buyout compromise.
Meanwhile, we expect Tinton Falls Borough Council to vote on a resolution tonight in support of S762-A2014, the state's proposed cost-benefits study into the Laurelwood civilian housing plan at NWS Earle and its impact to NJ taxpayers. NOPE is optimistic about passage of the resolution, which is nothing more than an endorsement of Senator Beck's proposal in the Statehouse to study the merits of the DoN plan. As we have long railed, the DoN purposely omitted financial data and security cost ramifications of the plan from the Laurelwood EIS, and NJ taxpayers deserve to know how big an unfunded mandate they face as a result of the DoN's insistence on pursuing an extremely hazardous plan.
Finally, an interesting anecdote from California...where the Los Angeles times reports that the Navy has put an end to a free ferry service for the 130 or so sailors and civilian contractors who commute daily from mainland San Diego to North Island Naval Air Station. (Cali subsidizing the ~$150k annual cost as a means to ease road congestion around the Coronado base, which reportedly hosts about 35,000 employees.)
From our perspective, it is just interesting - bordering on laughable - that in the wake of the Fort Hood massacre that the DoN sees a such huge threat from a commuter ferry and cancelled a service used largely by its own employees, citing security concerns, but has no problems creating unimpeded access to NWS Earle, an 11,000-acre base that houses 300 bunkers of high-powered U.S. weapons stockpiles. On the one hand the DoN is making it harder on its own to get onto a Navy base (North Island), whereas here at Earle, the DoN is opening its arms so wide to anyone that chooses to traverse its property and visit Laurelwood as often as possible.
Anyone else out there following this logic?! We welcome your comments here.
Meanwhile, we expect Tinton Falls Borough Council to vote on a resolution tonight in support of S762-A2014, the state's proposed cost-benefits study into the Laurelwood civilian housing plan at NWS Earle and its impact to NJ taxpayers. NOPE is optimistic about passage of the resolution, which is nothing more than an endorsement of Senator Beck's proposal in the Statehouse to study the merits of the DoN plan. As we have long railed, the DoN purposely omitted financial data and security cost ramifications of the plan from the Laurelwood EIS, and NJ taxpayers deserve to know how big an unfunded mandate they face as a result of the DoN's insistence on pursuing an extremely hazardous plan.
Finally, an interesting anecdote from California...where the Los Angeles times reports that the Navy has put an end to a free ferry service for the 130 or so sailors and civilian contractors who commute daily from mainland San Diego to North Island Naval Air Station. (Cali subsidizing the ~$150k annual cost as a means to ease road congestion around the Coronado base, which reportedly hosts about 35,000 employees.)
From our perspective, it is just interesting - bordering on laughable - that in the wake of the Fort Hood massacre that the DoN sees a such huge threat from a commuter ferry and cancelled a service used largely by its own employees, citing security concerns, but has no problems creating unimpeded access to NWS Earle, an 11,000-acre base that houses 300 bunkers of high-powered U.S. weapons stockpiles. On the one hand the DoN is making it harder on its own to get onto a Navy base (North Island), whereas here at Earle, the DoN is opening its arms so wide to anyone that chooses to traverse its property and visit Laurelwood as often as possible.
Anyone else out there following this logic?! We welcome your comments here.
Friday, February 5, 2010
AOL: Belgian Activists Breach Security Around U.S. Nukes
AOL News' Judy Pasternak reports that peace activists spent an unauthorized hour at an Belgian military base "within yards of U.S. nuclear weapons, raising questions about the security of American bombs stored at foreign air bases across Europe." The YouTube video that accompanies the stories is extremely chilling.
Granted, this was an overseas event and nothing catastrophic occurred as a result. However, this is not the first time a nukes base has been easily penetrated by peace demonstrators. Back in November, we shed light on five protestors in Washington roaming Naval Base Kitsap outside of Seattle for four hours, after cutting through at least three lines of security fencing. For equally comical and at the same time alarming reading, we encourage supporters to revisit that story.
This is not to suggest that we're residing atop nuclear stockpiles at Weapons Station Earle in Colts Neck (for we, as civilians, have no clue what is sitting in Earle's 300 or so military ordance bunkers), but for those who say NOPE is full of it for saying the Navy will have difficulty securing itself from civilian break-ins once Laurelwood houses are occupied by renters, keep in mind that the Department of Navy's "security measures" for segregating 300 new civilian renter families from the rest of its active base for the next 40 years will be 7-foot-high perimeter fencing and some extra security guards.
Then watch the YouTube video link on AOL's Belgian break-in story, and see whether you still agree with the Department of Navy's assertions from its Final Environmental Impact Statement (EIS) that 7-foot fencing, 30-foot buffer zones and a few extra guards will be enough to prevent anyone with ill will toward America from getting to the weapons stored at 11,000-acre Earle and turning Monmouth County into the next Ground Zero.
Granted, this was an overseas event and nothing catastrophic occurred as a result. However, this is not the first time a nukes base has been easily penetrated by peace demonstrators. Back in November, we shed light on five protestors in Washington roaming Naval Base Kitsap outside of Seattle for four hours, after cutting through at least three lines of security fencing. For equally comical and at the same time alarming reading, we encourage supporters to revisit that story.
This is not to suggest that we're residing atop nuclear stockpiles at Weapons Station Earle in Colts Neck (for we, as civilians, have no clue what is sitting in Earle's 300 or so military ordance bunkers), but for those who say NOPE is full of it for saying the Navy will have difficulty securing itself from civilian break-ins once Laurelwood houses are occupied by renters, keep in mind that the Department of Navy's "security measures" for segregating 300 new civilian renter families from the rest of its active base for the next 40 years will be 7-foot-high perimeter fencing and some extra security guards.
Then watch the YouTube video link on AOL's Belgian break-in story, and see whether you still agree with the Department of Navy's assertions from its Final Environmental Impact Statement (EIS) that 7-foot fencing, 30-foot buffer zones and a few extra guards will be enough to prevent anyone with ill will toward America from getting to the weapons stored at 11,000-acre Earle and turning Monmouth County into the next Ground Zero.
Thursday, February 4, 2010
Navy's aircraft carrier intentions worth watching
The legislatively-mandated Quadrennial Defense Review (QDR) was published Tuesday by the Department of Defense. There is nothing specific in the QDR to NOPE's agenda with NWS Earle housing, but it is interesting to note yet another case of U.S. Military leaders' poor infrastructure planning and egregious financial mismanagement, as exemplified locally by two cases - the $2 billion Ft. Monmouth closure (and move to Maryland), and the presumed $500 million-plus unfunded mandate for turning an active Naval weapons base into a civilian apartment complex.
In the QDR on p. 69, NOPE supporters should observe a seemingly matter-of-fact assertion that the Navy will "home port an East Coast carrier in Mayport, Florida." Seems harmless...and maybe justifiable (defensively speaking), right?
Well, according to Bill Bartel of the Virginian-Pilot, this single line in the QDR is drawing the ire of the Newport, VA region, home to all five U.S. nuclear carriers on the East Coast. The economic impact (and we know from our cases at Earle and Ft. Monmouth that the Military's cost modeling is inept) could be massive - $650 million and 11,000-job loss to Virginia.
Long story short...a nasty fight is brewing. The DoD says it needs to move the homeport to mitigate the risk of terror attack on Hampton Roads. Virginia legislators claim the Navy has given no justifiable research to prove the move is necessary, nor that the region is a terror target. It is possible that arguments on both sides are valid, fully or partially. Florida, meanwhile, is obviously excited by this prospects.
So who will "win"? Not the U.S. taxpayer, as we know.
A comment in Mr. Bartel's story, by a U.S. Representative Randy Forbes (R-4th District, Virginia and a member of the House Armed Services Committee), sheds light not on the victor, but on why these types of maneuvers get done. Rep. Forbes citing a first-person recollection of being in the White House "when President Bush looked over to the Florida delegation and said, 'we're going to get you that carrier.'"
Again, this QDR issue has nothing directly to do with Earle housing, but considering NOPE's experience with Laurelwood housing (i.e. Navy enters 52-year Laurelwood lease in the 1980s, knowing full well the homeport for the Laurelwood-resident sailors was going to be moved shortly thereafter from NWS Earle to Virginia) and the nearly-$2 billion Fort Monmouth debacle, it is worth watching how this Navy-Virginia battle will play out and comparing the ultimate outcomes.
In the QDR on p. 69, NOPE supporters should observe a seemingly matter-of-fact assertion that the Navy will "home port an East Coast carrier in Mayport, Florida." Seems harmless...and maybe justifiable (defensively speaking), right?
Well, according to Bill Bartel of the Virginian-Pilot, this single line in the QDR is drawing the ire of the Newport, VA region, home to all five U.S. nuclear carriers on the East Coast. The economic impact (and we know from our cases at Earle and Ft. Monmouth that the Military's cost modeling is inept) could be massive - $650 million and 11,000-job loss to Virginia.
Long story short...a nasty fight is brewing. The DoD says it needs to move the homeport to mitigate the risk of terror attack on Hampton Roads. Virginia legislators claim the Navy has given no justifiable research to prove the move is necessary, nor that the region is a terror target. It is possible that arguments on both sides are valid, fully or partially. Florida, meanwhile, is obviously excited by this prospects.
So who will "win"? Not the U.S. taxpayer, as we know.
A comment in Mr. Bartel's story, by a U.S. Representative Randy Forbes (R-4th District, Virginia and a member of the House Armed Services Committee), sheds light not on the victor, but on why these types of maneuvers get done. Rep. Forbes citing a first-person recollection of being in the White House "when President Bush looked over to the Florida delegation and said, 'we're going to get you that carrier.'"
Again, this QDR issue has nothing directly to do with Earle housing, but considering NOPE's experience with Laurelwood housing (i.e. Navy enters 52-year Laurelwood lease in the 1980s, knowing full well the homeport for the Laurelwood-resident sailors was going to be moved shortly thereafter from NWS Earle to Virginia) and the nearly-$2 billion Fort Monmouth debacle, it is worth watching how this Navy-Virginia battle will play out and comparing the ultimate outcomes.
Wednesday, February 3, 2010
NOPE outreach to Former NJ Governor Tom Kean
NOPE legislative liaison Elaine Mann attended a Monmouth University panel discussion on Tuesday featuring former NJ governor Tom Kean and focusing on the "politics of civility" (i.e. the rise in acrimonious politics on state and federal levels) and a decline in "good government."
Elaine informs NOPE supporters that the former governor and Chairman of the 9/11 Commission, in a sidebar discussion, expressed interest in the details of NOPE's objection to proposed civilian housing at NWS Earle and would follow up on our matter, aided by a packet of info Elaine provided. We will follow up with Mr. Kean, considering his expertise on terrorism and the advice he could provide to the community in identifying potential security threats of opening the Colts Neck weapons storage base to civilians later this year.
Separately, last night, Chairman Bill Holobowski briefed Tinton Falls Borough Council on the merits of passing a borough resolution to support S762/A2014 in Trenton, which would require the State Treasurer to conduct a financial assessment of the Laurelwood housing situation before New Jersey's DOT or DEP could issue permits to the Navy and its developer, Laurelwood Homes LLC, for the proposed conversion to civilian occupancy. NOPE is hopeful the Borough Council will approve the resolution at next week's meeting.
The State bill, much like the ongoing GAO study underway on the federal level, is a common-sense approach to studying how much the Department of Navy plan to convert Earle's military housing to civilian use will cost New Jersey taxpayers (NOPE estimates upward of $500 million). And unlike some extremely misleading info being circulated by select NOPE opponents, passage of such a bill would do nothing to sway any decision on the ultimate usage of the 300 Laurelwood homes. For those that still haven't read the government's documentation, the Navy's Final EIS from May 2009 makes abundantly clear that Laurelwood Homes, LLC has complete say over eventual tenants, which will amount to anyone that can cut a $1600-$2200 monthly rent check. So, to reiterate, S762 will do nothing but allow for a very useful study, to the benefit of New Jersey residents, especially in Tinton Falls and Colts Neck, that face a potentially crippling unfunded mandate.
Elaine informs NOPE supporters that the former governor and Chairman of the 9/11 Commission, in a sidebar discussion, expressed interest in the details of NOPE's objection to proposed civilian housing at NWS Earle and would follow up on our matter, aided by a packet of info Elaine provided. We will follow up with Mr. Kean, considering his expertise on terrorism and the advice he could provide to the community in identifying potential security threats of opening the Colts Neck weapons storage base to civilians later this year.
Separately, last night, Chairman Bill Holobowski briefed Tinton Falls Borough Council on the merits of passing a borough resolution to support S762/A2014 in Trenton, which would require the State Treasurer to conduct a financial assessment of the Laurelwood housing situation before New Jersey's DOT or DEP could issue permits to the Navy and its developer, Laurelwood Homes LLC, for the proposed conversion to civilian occupancy. NOPE is hopeful the Borough Council will approve the resolution at next week's meeting.
The State bill, much like the ongoing GAO study underway on the federal level, is a common-sense approach to studying how much the Department of Navy plan to convert Earle's military housing to civilian use will cost New Jersey taxpayers (NOPE estimates upward of $500 million). And unlike some extremely misleading info being circulated by select NOPE opponents, passage of such a bill would do nothing to sway any decision on the ultimate usage of the 300 Laurelwood homes. For those that still haven't read the government's documentation, the Navy's Final EIS from May 2009 makes abundantly clear that Laurelwood Homes, LLC has complete say over eventual tenants, which will amount to anyone that can cut a $1600-$2200 monthly rent check. So, to reiterate, S762 will do nothing but allow for a very useful study, to the benefit of New Jersey residents, especially in Tinton Falls and Colts Neck, that face a potentially crippling unfunded mandate.
Tuesday, February 2, 2010
Adding insult to injury...
At the same time the Department of Navy is slapping New Jersey in the face with an unfunded mandate (which NOPE estimates at about half a billion dollars and anticipates a GAO study will verify) for proposed civilian housing at NWS Earle and compromising its own and our security, a few miles down the road we have another case of egregious financial mismanagement and ineptitude surrounding the DoD's impending closure of Fort Monmouth.
Although different from the Laurelwood housing case at Earle, each case sheds light on why NOPE is adamantly opposed to the Navy's plans for Laurelwood housing and how poorly the U.S. Military manages budgets, and why local citizens should not only encourage their elected officials to be more vigilant about military matters that impact New Jersey, but also to become more informed and involved themselves.
In a report that should come as no surprise to anyone watching how the DoD has turned New Jersey into a bigger laughingstock, The Asbury Park Press this morning says the "price tag to close Fort Monmouth has jumped more than $100 million in the past nine months." With that, we now know that it will cost U.S. taxpayers $1.87 billion to relocate Fort Monmouth's mission to Aberdeen Proving Ground in Maryland, or 137% more than the initial $789 million estimate in 2005. Of course, spokepeople for the U.S. Army were unavailable to comment.
And that's just the financial parameters of the move. Not mentioned is how the ill-informed BRAC decision-makers literally have set back the Army's mission by years and will drain the highly-skilled workforce at Ft. Monmouth by relocating the base, presumably for the sole sake of paying off favors to either Maryland politicians or key military brass. The notion of any kind of military benefit (in a recession, no less) of a nearly-$2 billion relocation expense is hogwash, when considering such funding could go toward better gear for our soldiers or attending to the needs of DAVs or other military needs.
In short, NOPE remains (and needs its supporters to remain) vigilant in pressing the Department of Navy to reverse its course on Laurelwood housing and to end the contract with its developer and raze the development. We would encourage you not only to stay tuned here and in the local media to this case, but within 90 days of the DoN's deadline to open the base ahead of planned civilian housing at NWS Earle this September to call your elected representatives in N.J. and Washington to press our opposition to privatization at NWS Earle! We need NOPE supporters to remain vocal, before we have another Fort Monmouth-type debacle (and likely even worse) on our hands.
Although different from the Laurelwood housing case at Earle, each case sheds light on why NOPE is adamantly opposed to the Navy's plans for Laurelwood housing and how poorly the U.S. Military manages budgets, and why local citizens should not only encourage their elected officials to be more vigilant about military matters that impact New Jersey, but also to become more informed and involved themselves.
In a report that should come as no surprise to anyone watching how the DoD has turned New Jersey into a bigger laughingstock, The Asbury Park Press this morning says the "price tag to close Fort Monmouth has jumped more than $100 million in the past nine months." With that, we now know that it will cost U.S. taxpayers $1.87 billion to relocate Fort Monmouth's mission to Aberdeen Proving Ground in Maryland, or 137% more than the initial $789 million estimate in 2005. Of course, spokepeople for the U.S. Army were unavailable to comment.
And that's just the financial parameters of the move. Not mentioned is how the ill-informed BRAC decision-makers literally have set back the Army's mission by years and will drain the highly-skilled workforce at Ft. Monmouth by relocating the base, presumably for the sole sake of paying off favors to either Maryland politicians or key military brass. The notion of any kind of military benefit (in a recession, no less) of a nearly-$2 billion relocation expense is hogwash, when considering such funding could go toward better gear for our soldiers or attending to the needs of DAVs or other military needs.
In short, NOPE remains (and needs its supporters to remain) vigilant in pressing the Department of Navy to reverse its course on Laurelwood housing and to end the contract with its developer and raze the development. We would encourage you not only to stay tuned here and in the local media to this case, but within 90 days of the DoN's deadline to open the base ahead of planned civilian housing at NWS Earle this September to call your elected representatives in N.J. and Washington to press our opposition to privatization at NWS Earle! We need NOPE supporters to remain vocal, before we have another Fort Monmouth-type debacle (and likely even worse) on our hands.
Friday, January 29, 2010
NJ Treasurer bill gets re-numbered; join NOPE's Facebook; listen for report on WWZY-The Breeze
A few quick updates heading into what appears to be a COLD weekend...
- The N.J. legislation to mandate that the State Treasurer's office study of the Laurelwood civilian housing plan was re-numbered for consideration in the Senate (S-762) and House (A-2014), and is likely to be taken up in February. Please stay tuned for updates here and on the N.J. legislature website for whether this important piece of legislation passes in Trenton. Such a study will give the state ample financial data to determine impacts to N.J. taxpayers.
- NOPE supporters are encouraged to visit and sign up for our Facebook Causes page, a nascent venture for our grassroots organization. We ask that you sign up and share with your friends and family. The could be a useful venue to spread our message.
- Chairman Bill Holobowski was interviewed by WWZY, The Breeze, this week, about NOPE's briefing of the GAO, so listen the next few days to the news and let us know if you hear anything.
- The N.J. legislation to mandate that the State Treasurer's office study of the Laurelwood civilian housing plan was re-numbered for consideration in the Senate (S-762) and House (A-2014), and is likely to be taken up in February. Please stay tuned for updates here and on the N.J. legislature website for whether this important piece of legislation passes in Trenton. Such a study will give the state ample financial data to determine impacts to N.J. taxpayers.
- NOPE supporters are encouraged to visit and sign up for our Facebook Causes page, a nascent venture for our grassroots organization. We ask that you sign up and share with your friends and family. The could be a useful venue to spread our message.
- Chairman Bill Holobowski was interviewed by WWZY, The Breeze, this week, about NOPE's briefing of the GAO, so listen the next few days to the news and let us know if you hear anything.
Wednesday, January 27, 2010
Housing Advocates Mean Well, But In The Wrong On Laurelwood
Respecting the notion of fair-and-balanced journalism and full disclosure of stories of all kinds (whether "pro-" or "anti-" NOPE), we highlight a story entitled "Veterans' supporters eye housing at Earle" in Greater Media's News Transcript this week, and obvious pitfalls both in the facts the "supporters" group apparently presented the writer, and the notion of any civilian living unimpededly within an active, fully secure Naval weapons storage facility as panacea to our area's housing needs.
We suggest that readers take this story with a grain of salt, and remind our supporters' of the author's November 18, 2009 column on the merits of proposed civilian housing at Earle.
Without stooping to the vitriolic posture taken by these "veterans' supporters" (do we Americans not support veterans?) and housing advocates toward NOPE and others during an encounter at the State House in Trenton earlier this month, we highlight the notable falsehoods these groups have been spreading to anyone that will listen. (To be sure, these groups' charges have been summarily dismissed by rounds of elected officials and a host of military veterans, including three NOPE leaders who served a collective three decades-plus in the Armed Forces, who all recognize that putting anyone in harms way is not justification for letting people live on a Navy weapons base and compromising Earle's mission to provide ammo to the U.S. fleet.)
The most notable flaw is the assumption that anyone but Teri Fischer, owner of Laurelwood Homes LLC controls and will manage the properties in question thru 2040 (unless she can find a buyer insane enough to take control of this nightmare in a separate buyout). The Transcript story states that an outfit called Neptune Housing Authority would vet (i.e. conduct background checks, etc.) prospective tenants and "has oversight for this particular military development." Maybe that's NHA's plan, but their charge is 100% false. Much like we have encouraged these groups ad nauseum, we encourage everyone read the Navy's Laurelwood EIS for perspective and the real facts for how "civilian" Laurelwood will be managed...and why NOPE and NJ's elected officials - both Democrat and Republic - up to the U.S. Senate object.
In addition, the contentions of a Mr. Welch and Ms. Zucaro cited in the story about civilians living on other military bases is true, but somewhat misleading, in that each base is very case-by-case (i.e. most not nearly as strategically sensitive as one of the U.S.'s most important Navy weapons depots). Civilians are the tenant of last resort (read about the "tenant waterfall" in the GAO's May 2009 report on privatized military housing) for underutilized military housing, and as cited on the p. 25 footnote to that report, note that many installation commanders object to civilian tenants in base housing. Plus, it is patently insane to suggest, as the Navy tried in its EIS, that what happens at NWS Earle is anything close to the mission at Fort Wainwright in Alaska (one of only 7-8 bases with Section 801 military housing, a housing code that we might add was scrapped very soon after the government realized it was a disaster).
NOPE is confident the upcoming GAO findings on Laurelwood housing will dispel such far-fetched notions that Laurelwood housing is suitable to any civilian, and show that the security and financial trade-offs to the Department of Navy and Earle's surrounding communities does not justify tugging at peoples' heartstrings and hatching schemes to convert Laurelwood into housing panacea within the confines of a very dangerous military base (NWS Earle), whose focus should solely be on national security.
We suggest that readers take this story with a grain of salt, and remind our supporters' of the author's November 18, 2009 column on the merits of proposed civilian housing at Earle.
Without stooping to the vitriolic posture taken by these "veterans' supporters" (do we Americans not support veterans?) and housing advocates toward NOPE and others during an encounter at the State House in Trenton earlier this month, we highlight the notable falsehoods these groups have been spreading to anyone that will listen. (To be sure, these groups' charges have been summarily dismissed by rounds of elected officials and a host of military veterans, including three NOPE leaders who served a collective three decades-plus in the Armed Forces, who all recognize that putting anyone in harms way is not justification for letting people live on a Navy weapons base and compromising Earle's mission to provide ammo to the U.S. fleet.)
The most notable flaw is the assumption that anyone but Teri Fischer, owner of Laurelwood Homes LLC controls and will manage the properties in question thru 2040 (unless she can find a buyer insane enough to take control of this nightmare in a separate buyout). The Transcript story states that an outfit called Neptune Housing Authority would vet (i.e. conduct background checks, etc.) prospective tenants and "has oversight for this particular military development." Maybe that's NHA's plan, but their charge is 100% false. Much like we have encouraged these groups ad nauseum, we encourage everyone read the Navy's Laurelwood EIS for perspective and the real facts for how "civilian" Laurelwood will be managed...and why NOPE and NJ's elected officials - both Democrat and Republic - up to the U.S. Senate object.
In addition, the contentions of a Mr. Welch and Ms. Zucaro cited in the story about civilians living on other military bases is true, but somewhat misleading, in that each base is very case-by-case (i.e. most not nearly as strategically sensitive as one of the U.S.'s most important Navy weapons depots). Civilians are the tenant of last resort (read about the "tenant waterfall" in the GAO's May 2009 report on privatized military housing) for underutilized military housing, and as cited on the p. 25 footnote to that report, note that many installation commanders object to civilian tenants in base housing. Plus, it is patently insane to suggest, as the Navy tried in its EIS, that what happens at NWS Earle is anything close to the mission at Fort Wainwright in Alaska (one of only 7-8 bases with Section 801 military housing, a housing code that we might add was scrapped very soon after the government realized it was a disaster).
NOPE is confident the upcoming GAO findings on Laurelwood housing will dispel such far-fetched notions that Laurelwood housing is suitable to any civilian, and show that the security and financial trade-offs to the Department of Navy and Earle's surrounding communities does not justify tugging at peoples' heartstrings and hatching schemes to convert Laurelwood into housing panacea within the confines of a very dangerous military base (NWS Earle), whose focus should solely be on national security.
Tuesday, January 26, 2010
Man busted with weapons arsenal, maps of U.S. military base
As NOPE has always preferred facts over fear mongering, this story should make the Department of Navy question its sanity before willingly opening Naval Weapons Station Earle to unimpeded civilian access and to civilian tenants who can pony up a monthly rent check for a Laurelwood townhome on the base, presumably come September.
According to the Star-Ledger, a U.S. Navy deserter named Lloyd Woodson was arrested in Branchburg yesterday with a "trove of high-powered weapons, including a grenade launcher and two assault rifles, along with maps of a U.S. military base and civilian neighborhood," plus a night scope and police scanner, and clad in a bulletproof vest. CNN has picked up this story as well.
The FBI, according to NJ.com, finds no terrorism link with Mr. Woodson, and the maps found evidently are of a base outside New Jersey, but the obvious association to NOPE's objections to unimpeded civilian housing and access to Earle is that any crackpot with a checking account, and perhaps bad intentions, will soon live inside a Naval weapons station, posing a significant threat to servicemembers or the weapons base's mission at large for the next 30 years and our own security.
Interestingly, the DoN's stance throughout this process has been don't worry...we can handle it (civilian housing on a fully functional munitions depot), but in light of yesterday's arrest, combined with the Fort Hood massacre, the Fort Dix arrests, the break-in of a nuclear armaments base (Kitsap) in Washington, and well-publicized and thwarted homegrown terror attacks against military personal (Quantico, Arkansas recruiting center), we are left shaking our heads as to why the Department of Navy is so eager to turn Earle into a potential haven for disturbance.
Area residents might want to start calling their legislators and contact Naval Weapons Station Earle (732.866.2171) and start asking for themselves - "why does the U.S. Navy want to expose itself and us to obvious danger?"
According to the Star-Ledger, a U.S. Navy deserter named Lloyd Woodson was arrested in Branchburg yesterday with a "trove of high-powered weapons, including a grenade launcher and two assault rifles, along with maps of a U.S. military base and civilian neighborhood," plus a night scope and police scanner, and clad in a bulletproof vest. CNN has picked up this story as well.
The FBI, according to NJ.com, finds no terrorism link with Mr. Woodson, and the maps found evidently are of a base outside New Jersey, but the obvious association to NOPE's objections to unimpeded civilian housing and access to Earle is that any crackpot with a checking account, and perhaps bad intentions, will soon live inside a Naval weapons station, posing a significant threat to servicemembers or the weapons base's mission at large for the next 30 years and our own security.
Interestingly, the DoN's stance throughout this process has been don't worry...we can handle it (civilian housing on a fully functional munitions depot), but in light of yesterday's arrest, combined with the Fort Hood massacre, the Fort Dix arrests, the break-in of a nuclear armaments base (Kitsap) in Washington, and well-publicized and thwarted homegrown terror attacks against military personal (Quantico, Arkansas recruiting center), we are left shaking our heads as to why the Department of Navy is so eager to turn Earle into a potential haven for disturbance.
Area residents might want to start calling their legislators and contact Naval Weapons Station Earle (732.866.2171) and start asking for themselves - "why does the U.S. Navy want to expose itself and us to obvious danger?"
Saturday, January 23, 2010
DOT letter suggests Navy Catch-22, Laurelwood buyout as clear option
A December 23, 2009 letter from the Department of Navy (DoN) to the New Jersey Department of Transportation, obtained Friday by NOPE, suggests that Navy leadership was grossly misguided to think that obtaining state permits to build an unimpeded access road for civilian housing at NWS Earle would be a cakewalk, or that the state should compromise its standards. (We will post the letter once we have a more-legible version.)
In short, and without getting technical about key terms mentioned in the letter such as "sovereign immunity" and the New Jersey "Access Code," it seems at first glance that the DoN inadvertently caught itself in a Catch-22 that may have the benign effect of causing it to miss its deadline to open the base and 300 Laurelwood military houses to civilian renters, and invoke the contract-agreed buyout process.
Earle's public works officer wrote to the NJDOT director that, by the Navy’s account, the Navy (as landowner) is restricted by Federal law from applying for the permits. At the same time, by the Navy’s account, if Laurelwood Homes LLC (the owner/developer of the 300 homes at Earle) has not itself requested permits, no actionable highway connection permit request exists. From what we can tell, the developer has applied for no such permits. And since the developer does not own the right-of-way land, DOT has stated that the developer does not qualify for a permit.
In terms of NOPE's interest in preventing civilian housing for the next 30 years at NWS Earle, this is potentially good news, in that:
This leaves the buyout option. Candidly, NOPE has no interest in whether Laurelwood gets a penny more from U.S. taxpayers from this housing debacle. The company has already collected $70 million-plus of rents from the DoN on the deal. We simply argue that, without the ability to void the contract in the interest of national defense, that the DoN wake up to the realization that the best option is to engage Laurelwood in some kind of process to bring this whole charade to an end and alleviate the stress on Earle's surrounding communities and the base itself. The DoN should be in the business of national defense, not as a property manager or host to civilian communities inside a military weapons base.
In short, and without getting technical about key terms mentioned in the letter such as "sovereign immunity" and the New Jersey "Access Code," it seems at first glance that the DoN inadvertently caught itself in a Catch-22 that may have the benign effect of causing it to miss its deadline to open the base and 300 Laurelwood military houses to civilian renters, and invoke the contract-agreed buyout process.
Earle's public works officer wrote to the NJDOT director that, by the Navy’s account, the Navy (as landowner) is restricted by Federal law from applying for the permits. At the same time, by the Navy’s account, if Laurelwood Homes LLC (the owner/developer of the 300 homes at Earle) has not itself requested permits, no actionable highway connection permit request exists. From what we can tell, the developer has applied for no such permits. And since the developer does not own the right-of-way land, DOT has stated that the developer does not qualify for a permit.
In terms of NOPE's interest in preventing civilian housing for the next 30 years at NWS Earle, this is potentially good news, in that:
- The DoN procrastinated on what was an urgent and, as we have now learn, controversial permitting process. The Navy knew what permits were needed as of May 22, 2009 when it issued its Record of Decision picking Route Alignment 4. The DoN also knew that it had made a contractual commitment to have permits in place by April 30, 2010.
- The DoN did not move promptly to have its partner, Laurelwood, secure permits. The Navy’s spurious “Need and Purpose” described in the Laurelwood Environmental Impact Statement (EIS) was to “satisfy the contractual obligation” for unimpeded access, but a major critical path task was left until December.
- What seemed to be a straightforward permit application matter, in fact, has morphed into a time-consuming , expensive exercise with follow-on ramifications. The DoN's genuine “purpose and need” for opening Earle to civilians was to stop paying $10,000-plus per day for renting empty housing, but its purposed solution is more costly than a buyout.
This leaves the buyout option. Candidly, NOPE has no interest in whether Laurelwood gets a penny more from U.S. taxpayers from this housing debacle. The company has already collected $70 million-plus of rents from the DoN on the deal. We simply argue that, without the ability to void the contract in the interest of national defense, that the DoN wake up to the realization that the best option is to engage Laurelwood in some kind of process to bring this whole charade to an end and alleviate the stress on Earle's surrounding communities and the base itself. The DoN should be in the business of national defense, not as a property manager or host to civilian communities inside a military weapons base.
Thursday, January 21, 2010
Are we stuck in the middle of a Navy-Laurelwood game of chicken?
This is a fair question in light of our reading of the Government Accountability Office's May 2009 report (GAO-09-352) on privatized military housing, especially as we are now within 100 days of the expiration of the Department of Navy's "in-lease" (i.e. military-use portion of a 52-year housing contract) of its pact with Laurelwood Homes LLC and the potential startup of unimpeded civilian access to one of our nation's biggest military weapons bases.
There is no dialogue specific to Laurelwood housing in GAO-09-352, but we point readers' attention to a few interesting GAO findings:
There is no dialogue specific to Laurelwood housing in GAO-09-352, but we point readers' attention to a few interesting GAO findings:
- Military housing constructed before 1996 is inferior
- Some installation commanders interviewed by the GAO expressed reservations to private developers about having civilians living in military privatized housing (p. 25, footnote 11)
- The DoD's housing privatization goal was to minimize its role in operating military family housing (renting the Laurelwood homes to civilians will increase Earle's role in managing a new population of 1,200-plus civilian tenants and add millions of dollars of cost to the DoN...and hundreds of millions more to our communities)
- Credit rating agency (i.e. Moody's, S&P) downgrades of military housing bonds, especially during the 2009 market downturn, will make loans for military housing contractors more expensive and difficult to come by and these military partners to reserve more cash to cover liabilities
- The percentage of military housing projects below the desired 90% occupancy might be grossly understated (30% in 2009, down from 36% in 2006) because the military includes non-military tenants in its data (i.e. military bachelors, civilian contractors, civilians); in short, privatization does not work as argued by the U.S. Military
Our fourth bullet point, about credit ratings, may seem complicated, but brings us to our headline question of whether Monmouth County residents (and those who live nearest to NWS Earle, in particular) are simply in the middle of a game of chicken that has the Department of Navy and Laurelwood Homes, LLC staring each other down.
The findings in GAO-09-352 suggest as much, considering that NOPE understands that Laurelwood (and perhaps the Navy itself) will need to secure millions of dollars of third-party financing for road construction, security fence rentals and home improvements, to name a few upfront costs. In addition, any insurer insane enough to insure 300 townhomes in the middle of a powderkeg will probably charge Laurelwood a massive premium to cover the potential for accidents and endangerment to civilian tenants over the 30-year rental period on a weapons depot. Logistically, can Laurelwood even GET insurance for civilian rentals?
Considering the Department of Navy has shown zero willingness to engage in a fair buyout process (we already know that in 2002 the DoN foolishly signed away its right to void the contract, so NOPE's early proposal for voiding the deal in the nation's best security interest is out the window), we are only left to speculate that the DoN is playing chicken with Laurelwood in hopes of driving down the buyout price.
Perhaps a skillful bargaining measure on the DoN's part, but one that surely upsets the neighbors of NWS Earle like us, who are left to fear that DoN leadership has lost its mind and has zero regard for the well-being of its longstanding neighbors surround the base, nor for national security and the interests of service members stationed at NWS Earle.
Wednesday, January 20, 2010
Interesting Op-Ed in the NY Daily News
In light of the Fort Hood massacre, the Daily News author's argument in an op-ed piece this weekend that "the U.S. owes far better vigilance to the men and women who serve our nation in uniform" applies especially well to the service-members at Naval Weapons Station Earle. This is particularly true as we approach the 100-day deadline for the Department of Navy to blow open a hole in its security fencing to allow for unimpeded access to civilian housing at Earle thru 2040, simply to get out of a bad 1980s privatized housing contract.
The DoN's actions are deplorable, and will only endanger the staff and mission at Earle.
The DoN's actions are deplorable, and will only endanger the staff and mission at Earle.
Tuesday, January 19, 2010
"Lessons" from Fort Hood
NOPE's business case analyst Fulton Wilcox points us toward an independent study (released Friday by the Department of Defense) of the "lessons learned" from the Fort Hood, TX massacre called Protecting the Force.
Here we've attached Fulton's recap of the report, as it relates to NOPE's objections to proposed unimpeded civilian housing and access at NWS Earle, but the crux of Fulton's analysis is that if we were to overlay the Laurelwood scenario to this report, many of the gaps and "to-do" lists in the Fort Hood study not only apply to Earle, but will be further complicated by the presence of a small civilian town on the base.
Here we've attached Fulton's recap of the report, as it relates to NOPE's objections to proposed unimpeded civilian housing and access at NWS Earle, but the crux of Fulton's analysis is that if we were to overlay the Laurelwood scenario to this report, many of the gaps and "to-do" lists in the Fort Hood study not only apply to Earle, but will be further complicated by the presence of a small civilian town on the base.
It estimated the elapsed time from the first notice to first responders to the disabling of the perpetrator as taking about just under 5 minutes, which is very good response, but enough time for the shooter to kill 13 people and wound many more. Although Secretary of Defense Gates charged the study team with looking at “simultaneous” attacks that matter apparently had to do with separate multiple installations rather than the implications if the Fort Hood shooter had been a team rather than a lone individual.New York-based Epoch Times also gives a well-considered recap of the Fort Hood report.
The report stated that “DoD mandates 100% credential inspection for access to DoD CONUS [Continental United States] installations” (pg.34). It is a significant question as to whether the Laurelwood chain link fence justifies an exception. The study group expressed concern that there was no one “in charge” and suggested that DoD designate a senior DoD person to make policy decisions on such force protection matters (pg. 26).
The report touches on a variety of subjects regarding behavioral signals, but left for future study matters such as how DoD detects incipient dangerous behavior in non-affiliated civilians. It also touches on information sharing and policy – e.g., regarding vehicle registrations, private firearms handling, etc., but again not specifically with respect to entirely non-affiliated civilian residents and visitors.
On of the relevant findings (Finding 4.1) was that DoD’s emergency services are not interoperable across military and local civilian organization. Finding 4.2 was that DoD’s implementation of internal 911 is laggard. Many 911 calls went into the County system, and then had to be relayed back to Fort Hood.
Thursday, January 14, 2010
A Christie appointment worth watching
The Associated Press this morning is reporting that Governor-elect Chris Christie is going to appoint former Rudy Giuliani aide Andrew Eristoff as NJ's next Treasurer. Why is this intriguing to NOPE's opposition to proposed civilian housing at NWS Earle?
Well, separately, as we discussed here on October 14 and 15, Colts Neck Township hired Mr. Giuliani's firm (Giuliani Partners) as security analysts for its lawsuit versus the Department of Navy over proposed civilian housing at Laurelwood. (As a grassroots group and community messenger, we are not party to the various legal matters pertaining to the Earle case, but keep a close eye on them.)
Although NONE of NJ's gubernatorial candidates this past election gave us any of their time or thoughts on the Earle matter, Mr. Eristoff's inclusion in the Christie cabinet and affiliation to the Giuliani camp in the past could, anecdotally, signal a positive for NOPE, in terms of his ability to gather accurate security information in a security and cost-assessment study by the State Treasurer that NOPE is hopeful will pass in the new NJ legislative session.
Or maybe Mr. Eristoff's nomination means nothing. Either way, we will keep an eye on this.
Well, separately, as we discussed here on October 14 and 15, Colts Neck Township hired Mr. Giuliani's firm (Giuliani Partners) as security analysts for its lawsuit versus the Department of Navy over proposed civilian housing at Laurelwood. (As a grassroots group and community messenger, we are not party to the various legal matters pertaining to the Earle case, but keep a close eye on them.)
Although NONE of NJ's gubernatorial candidates this past election gave us any of their time or thoughts on the Earle matter, Mr. Eristoff's inclusion in the Christie cabinet and affiliation to the Giuliani camp in the past could, anecdotally, signal a positive for NOPE, in terms of his ability to gather accurate security information in a security and cost-assessment study by the State Treasurer that NOPE is hopeful will pass in the new NJ legislative session.
Or maybe Mr. Eristoff's nomination means nothing. Either way, we will keep an eye on this.
Wednesday, January 13, 2010
Explaining the "privatization" in NOPE
Those new to our grassroots group's objections to the Department of Navy's plan to unimpededly open Laurelwood "privatized" housing within the perimeter of Weapons Station Earle to civilians later this year may wonder why the heck NOPE opposes "privatization" at the 11,000-acre Monmouth County base that spans Colts Neck, Tinton Falls, Howell and Middletown.
To be sure, the 300 two- to four-bedroom Laurelwood townhomes (originally built for Navy dependents' use from 1988-2010) at NWS Earle are already "privatized," built in the late 1980s by contractor Laurelwood Homes, LLC predecessor "Dick Fischer Development #3." In essence, "privatization" refers to the Department of Defense's shift to private contractors to build and manage military housing, usually in 50-year stretches for each development. (This practice continues today under so-called PPV, or public-private ventures, started in 1996 after the U.S. quickly realized that Section 801 housing - Laurelwood's classification - was an utter disaster for the Military's housing construction needs. To be sure, this August 2008 report from the DoD Inspector General delves into 801 housing, and sheds light on potential civilian housing at Fort Hood...and unfortunately we know what has happened there...)
Anyway, NOPE's briefing last Thursday of the Government Accountability Office (GAO), the U.S. Congress's investigative resource, led to our discovery of the GAO's May 2009 study (GAO-09-352) on the issue of military housing privatization - one that is worth reading to all members of the general public (in addition to the 2008 IG report).
Although we expect to follow later with a more-detailed thoughts on GAO-09-352 as it relates to the merits of NOPE's objection to civilian housing at Earle, as informants to the public, we would encourage you to spend some time reading this 50-page document for background on the inner workings of the benefits and drawbacks of military housing privatization. It is an interesting case study in how military housing typically works (or does not work). And, as always, we welcome any feedback, commentary and questions here on our NOPE blog.
To be sure, the 300 two- to four-bedroom Laurelwood townhomes (originally built for Navy dependents' use from 1988-2010) at NWS Earle are already "privatized," built in the late 1980s by contractor Laurelwood Homes, LLC predecessor "Dick Fischer Development #3." In essence, "privatization" refers to the Department of Defense's shift to private contractors to build and manage military housing, usually in 50-year stretches for each development. (This practice continues today under so-called PPV, or public-private ventures, started in 1996 after the U.S. quickly realized that Section 801 housing - Laurelwood's classification - was an utter disaster for the Military's housing construction needs. To be sure, this August 2008 report from the DoD Inspector General delves into 801 housing, and sheds light on potential civilian housing at Fort Hood...and unfortunately we know what has happened there...)
Anyway, NOPE's briefing last Thursday of the Government Accountability Office (GAO), the U.S. Congress's investigative resource, led to our discovery of the GAO's May 2009 study (GAO-09-352) on the issue of military housing privatization - one that is worth reading to all members of the general public (in addition to the 2008 IG report).
Although we expect to follow later with a more-detailed thoughts on GAO-09-352 as it relates to the merits of NOPE's objection to civilian housing at Earle, as informants to the public, we would encourage you to spend some time reading this 50-page document for background on the inner workings of the benefits and drawbacks of military housing privatization. It is an interesting case study in how military housing typically works (or does not work). And, as always, we welcome any feedback, commentary and questions here on our NOPE blog.
Tuesday, January 12, 2010
Many thanks, again, to NOPE supporters!
Although outgoing Senate President Dick Codey failed to heed our numerous phone calls and emails to do what was right for NJ taxpayers and post S3017 for a vote yesterday in front of the full Senate, yesterday's outreach by the NOPE community was a clear showing of the wealth of support for our grassroots cause and the rational view that New Jerseyans deserve a financial analysis of proposed civilian housing at Naval Weapons Station Earle.
In addition, the measure we support and need is far from finished.
Accordingly to the NJ legislature website, S3017/A4159 was merely "tabled" for the next legislative session, which according to the legislature website glossary, simply means the bill is deferred, which augurs well for eventual passage, considering it has already passed committees in both New Jersey's House and Senate. (Type in "S3017" in the yellow bill number box on the right side of the legislature website...in the yellow-highlighted area.)
In short, protestation against the bill is short-sighted and mindless. The legislature simply wants to have the State Treasurer do a study that lays out the security and financial impact to New Jerseyans of an unfunded federal mandate that NOPE calculates could cost all stakeholders (and especially the towns neighboring Earle) a half-billion dollars from 2010-2040. The bill does nothing to stop or alter the Department of Navy's foolhardy plan to open its base to anyone that can cut a rent check. That, as anyone like us who has spent the time reading thru all of the Navy's regulatory literature on the issue (i.e. the Laurelwood EIS), is for the Navy and its Washington-based developer, Laurelwood Homes, LLC, to decide.
NOPE continues to stress that the ongoing federal study by the GAO, combined with eventual separate discoveries from the state's Treasurer, will make clearer to all parties that, in this case, the Department of Navy is in the wrong about what to do with its vacant Laurelwood housing.
In addition, the measure we support and need is far from finished.
Accordingly to the NJ legislature website, S3017/A4159 was merely "tabled" for the next legislative session, which according to the legislature website glossary, simply means the bill is deferred, which augurs well for eventual passage, considering it has already passed committees in both New Jersey's House and Senate. (Type in "S3017" in the yellow bill number box on the right side of the legislature website...in the yellow-highlighted area.)
In short, protestation against the bill is short-sighted and mindless. The legislature simply wants to have the State Treasurer do a study that lays out the security and financial impact to New Jerseyans of an unfunded federal mandate that NOPE calculates could cost all stakeholders (and especially the towns neighboring Earle) a half-billion dollars from 2010-2040. The bill does nothing to stop or alter the Department of Navy's foolhardy plan to open its base to anyone that can cut a rent check. That, as anyone like us who has spent the time reading thru all of the Navy's regulatory literature on the issue (i.e. the Laurelwood EIS), is for the Navy and its Washington-based developer, Laurelwood Homes, LLC, to decide.
NOPE continues to stress that the ongoing federal study by the GAO, combined with eventual separate discoveries from the state's Treasurer, will make clearer to all parties that, in this case, the Department of Navy is in the wrong about what to do with its vacant Laurelwood housing.
Monday, January 11, 2010
NOPE supporters, time to pick up that phone
In addition to calling or emailing Senator Codey as we blogged this weekend (encouraging the Senate President to post S3017 to today's Senate calendar for vote by the full NJ Senate), NOPE calls upon constituents in District 12 (namely Tinton Falls-based supporters) to call or email Representative Rush Holt to encourage his support.
Although Mr. Holt represents many of us on the federal level (entirely separate from what is happening in Trenton with proposed legislation to issue a State Treasurer study on the proposed civilian housing plan at Naval Weapons Station Earle), we certainly could use his support and ask that he urge Mr. Codey to simply list S3017 on today's Senate calendar. This measure is a benefit to New Jersey taxpayers in understanding the security and financial ramifications of the Department of Navy's dangerous civilian housing plan.
We ask NOPE supporters to take a moment today to call Mr. Holt's offices at 877-874-4658 or 202-225-5801. You can otherwise email Representative Holt. Many thanks!
Although Mr. Holt represents many of us on the federal level (entirely separate from what is happening in Trenton with proposed legislation to issue a State Treasurer study on the proposed civilian housing plan at Naval Weapons Station Earle), we certainly could use his support and ask that he urge Mr. Codey to simply list S3017 on today's Senate calendar. This measure is a benefit to New Jersey taxpayers in understanding the security and financial ramifications of the Department of Navy's dangerous civilian housing plan.
We ask NOPE supporters to take a moment today to call Mr. Holt's offices at 877-874-4658 or 202-225-5801. You can otherwise email Representative Holt. Many thanks!
Saturday, January 9, 2010
CONTACT SENATOR CODEY IMMEDIATELY!
This is an urgent rallying cry to NOPE supporters to call or email Senate President Richard Codey NOW, asking that he "post Senate bill 3017 immediately for review by the New Jersey State Senate session on Monday." That's all you need to say. Please call this weekend, or by Monday morning at the least; this cannot wait.
Mr. Codey can be contacted at sencodey@njleg.org or 973-731-6770 (if you call rather than email, you'll have to punch in "10" on your phone to access his answering machine).
We need to flood him with calls and emails, or else 7 months of NOPE's hard work could be down the drain. We are concerned that the measure, which has already been approved by the full Assembly and on Thursday won unanimous approval by a Senate committee, is being stalled for reasons having nothing to do with our case to prevent the Department of Navy from turning NJ into Ground Zero.
As the point person here, Mr. Codey should do what is right for NJ citizens and post this measure (S3017/A4159) for full Senate passage and the Governor's signature on Monday. Otherwise, we are back to square one and New Jersey will not get the necessary security and financial assessment of a disastrous Navy plan to house and provide unimpeded access to civilians at one of our nation's largest weapons stations - Naval Weapons Station Earle, right here in our backyard in Monmouth County.
We really need you to make this call, or send Mr. Codey an email, RIGHT NOW.
Mr. Codey can be contacted at sencodey@njleg.org or 973-731-6770 (if you call rather than email, you'll have to punch in "10" on your phone to access his answering machine).
We need to flood him with calls and emails, or else 7 months of NOPE's hard work could be down the drain. We are concerned that the measure, which has already been approved by the full Assembly and on Thursday won unanimous approval by a Senate committee, is being stalled for reasons having nothing to do with our case to prevent the Department of Navy from turning NJ into Ground Zero.
As the point person here, Mr. Codey should do what is right for NJ citizens and post this measure (S3017/A4159) for full Senate passage and the Governor's signature on Monday. Otherwise, we are back to square one and New Jersey will not get the necessary security and financial assessment of a disastrous Navy plan to house and provide unimpeded access to civilians at one of our nation's largest weapons stations - Naval Weapons Station Earle, right here in our backyard in Monmouth County.
We really need you to make this call, or send Mr. Codey an email, RIGHT NOW.
Friday, January 8, 2010
NOPE briefs GAO, Congressman Smith
Last night, NOPE had the opportunity to brief the Government Accountability Office (GAO) on the merits of our community's objection to civilian housing at Naval Weapons Station Earle.
We thank Congressman Chris Smith and his staff not only for setting up the briefing, which ran about 2 1/2 hours and proved valuable to the auditors in their early-stage probe, but for having continued faith in the credibility of our leadership and sincerity of NOPE's mission, which is simply to protect our communities, our security, and the Navy from its own flawed logic about what to do with vacant Laurelwood military housing on the Earle base. Collectively, we hope that GAO findings will awaken the Department of Defense to reverse the Navy's egregiously poor judgment from on high.
For those unfamiliar, the GAO is the investigative arm of Congress and tasked with "improving the performance and accountability of the federal government" to U.S. taxpayers' benefit. The GAO was commissioned (for this particular study) by legislation put forth, first by Congressman Smith in the House of Representatives, and then in the U.S. Senate by Robert Menendez and Frank Lautenberg and subsequently signed into the F2010 Defense spending bill by President Obama, requesting an objective study of the security and financial ramifications of the Department of Navy's plan to house civilians at Earle - key factors the Navy omitted from the cursory 1,300-page Laurelwood Environmental Impact Statement (EIS).
NOPE last night learned that GAO's early-stage audit will focus on:
In short, the meeting was extremely productive, and much like NOPE's briefings of the DoD Inspector General (IG) and then-Navy Under-Secretary BJ Penn (both in the summer of 2008), proved valuable in shedding light on the very unusual Laurelwood housing case and Weapons Station Earle itself, which is still sort of anonymous to many in Washington, D.C.
A lot of credit goes to Jim Sfayer and Fulton Wilcox, our primary presenters last night, who eloquently and so professionally briefed the GAO on the mission-critical nature of NWS Earle and why ripping a hole in the security fence to accommodate unimpeded civilian housing and access to an 11,000-acre weapons depot flies in the face of reason, largely from security and financial perspectives. Otherwise, NOPE's leadership team represented our grassroots organization extremely well and with tremendous professionalism, with some probing questions and insights for the GAO.
We'll keep you posted here on the next turn of events in this matter.
We thank Congressman Chris Smith and his staff not only for setting up the briefing, which ran about 2 1/2 hours and proved valuable to the auditors in their early-stage probe, but for having continued faith in the credibility of our leadership and sincerity of NOPE's mission, which is simply to protect our communities, our security, and the Navy from its own flawed logic about what to do with vacant Laurelwood military housing on the Earle base. Collectively, we hope that GAO findings will awaken the Department of Defense to reverse the Navy's egregiously poor judgment from on high.
For those unfamiliar, the GAO is the investigative arm of Congress and tasked with "improving the performance and accountability of the federal government" to U.S. taxpayers' benefit. The GAO was commissioned (for this particular study) by legislation put forth, first by Congressman Smith in the House of Representatives, and then in the U.S. Senate by Robert Menendez and Frank Lautenberg and subsequently signed into the F2010 Defense spending bill by President Obama, requesting an objective study of the security and financial ramifications of the Department of Navy's plan to house civilians at Earle - key factors the Navy omitted from the cursory 1,300-page Laurelwood Environmental Impact Statement (EIS).
NOPE last night learned that GAO's early-stage audit will focus on:
- a full cost-benefits analysis for all stakeholders (i.e. the Navy and local communities)
- whether the cost of the proposal to house 300 families of civilians and the Department of Navy's additional security requirements will outweigh the purported benefits the DoN touched upon in the EIS (details of explicit benefits were vague, at best, in that study)
- whether the Department of Defense plans to engage the community in setting the course for involvement of the local community
In short, the meeting was extremely productive, and much like NOPE's briefings of the DoD Inspector General (IG) and then-Navy Under-Secretary BJ Penn (both in the summer of 2008), proved valuable in shedding light on the very unusual Laurelwood housing case and Weapons Station Earle itself, which is still sort of anonymous to many in Washington, D.C.
A lot of credit goes to Jim Sfayer and Fulton Wilcox, our primary presenters last night, who eloquently and so professionally briefed the GAO on the mission-critical nature of NWS Earle and why ripping a hole in the security fence to accommodate unimpeded civilian housing and access to an 11,000-acre weapons depot flies in the face of reason, largely from security and financial perspectives. Otherwise, NOPE's leadership team represented our grassroots organization extremely well and with tremendous professionalism, with some probing questions and insights for the GAO.
We'll keep you posted here on the next turn of events in this matter.
Thursday, January 7, 2010
NJ Senate committee backs Earle financial, security study!
Good news from the New Jersey State House...the Senate's Community and Urban Affairs Committee passed by a 4-0 vote Senate bill S3017! This is wonderful news for NOPE, the tireless efforts of Senator Beck, the assembly and NOPE's legislative liaison Elaine Mann, and the 1,500-plus supporters who had signed our white postcards since our October 27, 2009 rally, urging passage of this measure. This proves that our community's voice does count and that NOPE indeed has mettle.
If passed by the full senate and signed by Governor Corzine on Monday, S3017 (the companion Assembly measure A4159 passed last month) would prevent the NJ Departments of Environmental Protection (DEP) and Transportation (DOT) from issuing permits to the U.S. Department of Navy for proposed construction of an unimpeded access road to Laurelwood houses inside Weapons Station Earle.
The combination of data from any State Treasurer study plus the ongoing and separate security and financial assessment conducted by the U.S. Senate's Goverment Accountability Office (GAO) will prove extremely valuable in proving the merits of NOPE's contention that unimpededly opening NWS Earle to civilian tenants for the next 30 years poses a security, financial and environmental recipe for disaster to the Navy itself and our communities. (See our 8-page Business Case analysis for more details on cost dynamics of the ill-conceived Navy plan.) The studies, combined, also will produce what the Navy -- by law -- was required to, but did not, provide to the U.S. citizens last year when the DoN rolled out what in the end was a non-compliant Final-Environmental Impact Statement (F-EIS).
Let's be clear. Contrary to what some opponents (namely a local veterans group and affordable housing advocate) contested in audio comments reviewed from the State House today, S3017 DOES NOT change the U.S. Navy's plans or decide the eventual outcome of the 300-unit Laurelwood housing complex...or, for that matter, who can occupy the homes. Rather, the legislation will rightfully give New Jersey's decision-makers, homeland security and emergency response officials and surrounding communities the missing pieces about security requirements and financial ramifications of a DoN proposal rife with questions and pitfalls.
And, from NOPE's perspective, S3017 would more or less put even more pressure on the DoN to recognize that it must, by contract, engage in a buyout of the Laurelwood lease if it fails to provide Laurelwood's developer access to build the road to the homes by May 1 (the expiration of the Navy's "in-lease" on the 52-year housing contract), as Supplemental Agreement 43 suggests in the Laurelwood leasing contract.
The point being...NOPE will CONTINUE TO FIGHT for the better of the community until the Laurelwood contract is voided or bought out and the Laurelwood houses are razed. Putting ANY civilians in the middle of a high-security munitions depot is a painfully bad idea and will have far too big a detriment on our communities, unless we continue to raise objections.
Let's keep up the fight. It's a battle worth waging!
If passed by the full senate and signed by Governor Corzine on Monday, S3017 (the companion Assembly measure A4159 passed last month) would prevent the NJ Departments of Environmental Protection (DEP) and Transportation (DOT) from issuing permits to the U.S. Department of Navy for proposed construction of an unimpeded access road to Laurelwood houses inside Weapons Station Earle.
The combination of data from any State Treasurer study plus the ongoing and separate security and financial assessment conducted by the U.S. Senate's Goverment Accountability Office (GAO) will prove extremely valuable in proving the merits of NOPE's contention that unimpededly opening NWS Earle to civilian tenants for the next 30 years poses a security, financial and environmental recipe for disaster to the Navy itself and our communities. (See our 8-page Business Case analysis for more details on cost dynamics of the ill-conceived Navy plan.) The studies, combined, also will produce what the Navy -- by law -- was required to, but did not, provide to the U.S. citizens last year when the DoN rolled out what in the end was a non-compliant Final-Environmental Impact Statement (F-EIS).
Let's be clear. Contrary to what some opponents (namely a local veterans group and affordable housing advocate) contested in audio comments reviewed from the State House today, S3017 DOES NOT change the U.S. Navy's plans or decide the eventual outcome of the 300-unit Laurelwood housing complex...or, for that matter, who can occupy the homes. Rather, the legislation will rightfully give New Jersey's decision-makers, homeland security and emergency response officials and surrounding communities the missing pieces about security requirements and financial ramifications of a DoN proposal rife with questions and pitfalls.
And, from NOPE's perspective, S3017 would more or less put even more pressure on the DoN to recognize that it must, by contract, engage in a buyout of the Laurelwood lease if it fails to provide Laurelwood's developer access to build the road to the homes by May 1 (the expiration of the Navy's "in-lease" on the 52-year housing contract), as Supplemental Agreement 43 suggests in the Laurelwood leasing contract.
The point being...NOPE will CONTINUE TO FIGHT for the better of the community until the Laurelwood contract is voided or bought out and the Laurelwood houses are razed. Putting ANY civilians in the middle of a high-security munitions depot is a painfully bad idea and will have far too big a detriment on our communities, unless we continue to raise objections.
Let's keep up the fight. It's a battle worth waging!
NJ Senate proceedings link
Anyone who wants to listen in to the Community and Urban affairs hearing in Trenton, where the Earle measure S3017/A4159 is being addressed, follow this link. We'll follow with an update later this afternoon regarding the outcome.
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