hard deadlines

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Today's edition of the Federal Register officially listed the excess Navy property on the West side of Aquidneck Island; it was a completely expected development, but it's always reassuring to see things in black & white. Tina Dolen of the Aquidneck Island Planning Commission sent along a statement this afternoon:

The Base Realignment and Closure Office (BRAC) also announced today that the Navy will be conducting a property survey at a later date to determine the exact acreage located in each town, since some data in the notice are incomplete. For instance, the 3.6 mile stretch of Defense Highway is only partially described, and spans both Portsmouth and Middletown. This will not affect the legality of the notice or surplus designation.

The next significant step will be formal recognition of the Aquidneck Island Reuse Planning Authority (AIRPA). This notice must be approved by several parties, including the Secretary of the Navy, and will then be published in the Federal Register, perhaps by the week of March 22. Beginning with publication of this notice, AIRPA will begin its myriad duties, although they have met recently to conduct preliminary planning, and will continue working on behalf of the communities. More news from AIRPA will follow in a subsequent notice.

Concurrently, AIPC is soon required to complete a collaboratively developed Grant Application to the Office of Economic Adjustment on behalf of the three communities and AIRPA for review and final approval.

If accepted as submitted, the grant funding will provide the AIRPA with the following services and personnel

1. A full-time Property Reuse Coordinator to support AIRPA’s work
2. Funds to hire a seasoned BRAC consulting firm to conduct a full-scale market analysis of economic conditions and outlook for Aquidneck Island and prepare a redevelopment plan for all surplus properties
3. Advise and inform the AIRPA on all OEA requirements
4. Office equipment, supplies, and many other items necessary to complete the OEA required planning duties
5. Additional services and provisions as needed

AIPC will continue to provide you with updates as we receive them. We encourage you to contact us at any time with questions you may have. The Reuse process is a very complicated one, and AIRPA hopes to conduct a public workshop in the near future to assist the communities in understanding the exciting work ahead.
— AIPC press release