Fort Benning puts land expansion project on hold

Facing a national budget deficit and growing opposition to the Army’s plan to acquire 82,800 acres of training land for Fort Benning, officials have put the proposal on hold five months after a draft environmental study selected Stewart County as the preferred alternative.

“The folks up at the Department of Defense are under instructions to re-evaluate all of their projects, and they are in the process of doing that in light of the deficit reduction mandate and to see if there is something they can put off or reassess,” U.S. Rep. Sanford Bishop, D-Albany, said Thursday. “Also this project has met with some local community opposition and they are very strongly opposed to it.”

In a statement released through the public affairs office, post officials said more time is needed to explore existing and additional courses of action to make decisions that both meet the Army’s needs and result in minimal impact on neighbors.

“This might include acquiring a smaller number of acres or taking no action at all to acquire additional land,” the statement said.

Stewart County was the preferred alternative out of five alternatives that also included locations in Marion, Webster, Harris and Talbot counties in Georgia and Russell County in Alabama. During a series of public meetings, some Stewart County residents strongly opposed the expansion because the area would lose $962,332 in tax revenue if land is removed from the tax digest.

Tim Cadenhead, a farmer who lives near Omaha and opposes the expansion, said the delay is good news.

“I like it,” he said. “I’m glad to hear that.”

Bishop was at Stewart County Elementary School Thursday night to explain the latest developments to residents and the possible options.

“Money has already been appropriated, but if they wanted to have that money allocated for another project, I think they perhaps are going to study to see whether or not there are some other options they can decide other than Stewart County that would be of benefit to the base or the Department of Defense,” he said.

Residents were awaiting the final environmental study, which was expected this fall. Bishop said the economic and environmental impact study is still not complete. Comments from residents would be part of the report and feedback shows the expansion is not well accepted among residents.

“Given all those things, I think they decided there was an option they could exercise which is to do nothing,” Bishop said.

In all of his meetings with residents, Bishop said comments on the expansion have been passed on the Army.

“The Army is quite aware,” he said. “It is just nice to see that government works.”

Fort Benning officials said the next step in the expansion project may come early next year but no later than March.

“By this time, we believe we will have resolution on budget decisions and will have completed the additional analysis necessary to respond to the concerns and comments that the public has provided,” the statement said.

https://www.ledger-enquirer.com/2011/10/21/1786540/fort-benning-land-acquisition.html