Special budget set for BRAC moves
Cramer says construction plans are on schedule
Saturday, March 18, 2006
Though U.S. Sen. Jeff Sessions and the Missile Defense Agency's director have sounded warnings about a lack of money for MDA office construction in Huntsville in the 2007 budget, U.S. Rep. Bud Cramer says a special budget for Base Realignment and Closure moves has yet to be released.
"We expect to see that soon," Cramer, D-Huntsville, said. "We expect that budget to pay for a majority of the BRAC construction and needs. ... It can't all come out of the military construction appropriations."
In the meantime, Cramer said Wednesday, plans are on schedule to build headquarters and other buildings for directorates such as Army Materiel Command, Army Security and Assistance Command, Army Space & Missile Defense Command and special test facilities, Cramer, D-Huntsville, said this week.
The moves are part of the 2005 Base Realignment and Closure Commission, or BRAC, process, and are expected to bring about 4,700 federal jobs to Huntsville.
Cramer said the BRAC budget process is still unfolding and construction dollars for MDA had not been specified by the Pentagon. "It's early in this process to speculate" on the total budget figures, he said.
Sessions, R-Mobile, has raised concerns about the shortage of construction dollars with Pentagon managers several times over the past few weeks, particularly for the MDA construction. Sessions is a member of the Senate Armed Services Committee, which holds sway over military moves and budgets.
Lt. Gen. Henry Obering, the MDA director, estimated in a visit to Huntsville on Monday that Pentagon budgets over the next five years face a $200 million shortfall, or half the $400 million needed to move missile defense programs out of Washington, D.C., because of the 2005 BRAC decisions.
Cramer said Congress would work with military budget planners over the coming years to make sure enough money is available to complete the BRAC moves.
Building offices and lab space along with adding sewers and roads to Redstone Arsenal now poses a challenge for Alabama lawmakers in Washington. Redstone improvements are expected to cost about $1 billion for 1.9 million square feet of office space, the Patriot Parkway bypass and infrastructure work such as sewer and water lines.
Army officials estimate that more than $600 million of the $1 billion is needed for office building design, related site preparation and construction. The balance would be spent on roads and infrastructure improvements.
Every year, Congress and the Pentagon craft a special budget for military construction. Cramer sits on the House Military Quality of Life Appropriations Subcommittee of the House Appropriations Committee and has influence on military construction and overall Pentagon budgets.
Sessions said in a recent interview that Pentagon managers had reaffirmed their commitment to moving the major Army commands along with several other Army offices and units to Huntsville.
"I don't see any problems with AMC or the others," Sessions said. "We remain aware of what happens, and I am watching every piece of all these moves to make sure they happen smoothly."
The details for Pentagon BRAC construction funds for the next five years have not been approved, but Sessions estimates details on the projects and their budgets should be approved by the end of this month, he said.
Pentagon managers estimate it will take about $122 million to build an AMC headquarters building on Redstone. At present, the AMC headquarters has been slated to be built off Martin Road, a mile west of the Army Aviation and Missile Command's Sparkman Center. No designs, construction time tables or building plans have been released.
The current plan would be to place $58 million in the fiscal year 2007 BRAC construction budge to fund a portion of the AMC headquarters, and $64 million in the fiscal year 2008 budget, according to preliminary estimates.
Also, $77 million for improvements and additions to Redstone Airfield looks to be on track for the 2008 budget.
The Pentagon plans to spend about $120 million to build aircraft hangars, test labs and aircraft parking areas for a test center to be located near the Redstone Airfield. Almost 40 helicopters will be based at Redstone and used for flight test and development work.
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