http://www.signonsandiego.com/news/metro/20060404-9999-1m4miramar.html
Airport board looks at moving military Joint use could be dropped at Miramar By Jeff Ristine UNION-TRIBUNE STAFF WRITER April 4, 2006 >From the Pentagon on down, military figures have told the Airport Authority that joint use of the Miramar Air Station would endanger the installation's training and national-defense mission. Now the agency wants to see what could be done by taking the joint out of joint use. Without removing any of its other dwindling options from the table, the San Diego County Regional Airport Authority board voted 6-3 yesterday to explore ideas that require moving certain military operations somewhere else to allow the separate operation of a commercial airport. With the military refusing to engage in "what if" scenarios, board members said they simply want to see if they can come up with a win-win solution of their own that could draw enough voter and congressional support to bring civilian military leaders to the negotiating table. Nothing too elaborate is expected from the vote, a follow-up to committee action instigated last week by San Diego Councilman Tony Young. The agency staff said it can research Miramar ideas without any additional budget expenditure, leaving it up to the nine-member board whether and how to use any concepts brought back for review. "This is not locking us into a particular idea or solution," said board member Paul Nieto. Lemon Grove Mayor Mary Teresa Sessom, a longtime critic of the military airport options, characterized the concept as "kicking the Marines out of Miramar." The proposal isn't quite so blunt, referring only to "certain assets" at Miramar being "repositioned." In February, the board's technical consultants presented the idea of building a military-only runway at Camp Pendleton to allow the Marines to move simulated carrier landing practice, a key activity at Miramar that requires precision use of airspace and plenty of room for error over undeveloped land. The idea got cold-shoulder treatment from an assistant Navy secretary and went nowhere with the board's strategic planning committee. A senior Marine Corps official attending the board meeting declined to comment after yesterday's vote, in which Sessom, Xema Jacobson and Robert Maxwell dissented. But the move is a departure from the methodical analysis of costs, airspace and environmental impacts that has typified the airport site-selection project in its final weeks. Besides joint use at Miramar, Camp Pendleton and North Island, the agency is considering civilian sites in East County's Boulevard and the Yuha Desert of southwestern Imperial County. The board tentatively is expected to complete its work within the next two months, selecting a proposal to present to voters in a countywide ballot measure Nov. 7. With much of the analysis still under way, the North Island option - which would leave Lindbergh Field still in operation - has been handicapped by findings on difficulties posed by crosswinds. The Imperial County proposal is burdened by the estimated $15.2 billion to $18.5 billion cost of a maglev train to serve the location. Sessom, echoing views of military representatives expressed in previous discussions, said a go-for-broke approach to Miramar ignores the conclusions of the Pentagon's 2005 Base Realignment and Closure project, which left San Diego unscathed. That review - the military's own assessment of the efficiency of its assets - concluded the bases in San Diego County already are configured the way the military wants them, she said. Putting too much faith in a military solution, Sessom said, runs the risk the agency will have nothing to show for its effort when Lindbergh Field reaches its capacity of 260,000 operations a year. But board member William D. Lynch said if the board fails to "work something out with the military," it is almost guaranteed to remain stuck at Lindbergh. The military, Lynch said, "is going to stand firm on this until some higher authority, if you will, can address the issue of competing interests." _____________________________________________ Do not post admin requests to the list. Goanet mailing list ([email protected]) Help/Unsubscribe/Update your Subscription: %(user_optionsurl)s This email sent to %(user_address)s
