BRUNSWICK

The Midcoast Regional Redevelopment Authority has reduced the number of committees tasked with repurposing the former military installation into a business park.

The consolidation should make attendance easier for committee members and make each meeting more productive, MRRA Board of Directors Chairman John Peters said.

Several current groups — including Airport Operations, Property Leases and Utilities — will be folded into a single Redevelopment Committee, which also will handle subdivisions, all property matters, maintenance and security, housing and environmental issues.

Likewise, the Community Relations Committee, which was established in 2012 to provide the public an opportunity to keep abreast of goings-on at the former naval air station, will be absorbed by the Executive Committee. Attendance at Community Relations Committee quarterly meetings has ranged from sparse to nil.

Previously, the various committees met only when there was business to be discussed or proposals that required action. Most of the organizational “heavy lifting” was accomplished during the past five years, Peters said, which required more specialized, smallscale committee work.

However, now that interest in the business and industrial park has reached critical mass, more work — but fewer meetings of the various groups — is required.

Peters, who recently retired, likened board responsibility to almost another full-time job.

“It’s a volunteer board, it’s a lot of work and sometimes it’s hard for people (with other careers) to make it to the meetings,” he said.

MRRA Executive Director Steve Levesque recommended the changes during the board’s annual retreat earlier this fall: Fewer committtees, but with an expanded scope of responsibilities.

Not every group will change.

The Finance Committee remains the same, dealing with the agency’s budget, annual audit and financial operations.

The Executive Committee will take on additional responsibilities: public relations, marketing, dealing with trustees, government relations, personnel and legal issues, as well as general policies and as a community “sounding board.”

Executive and Financial committees will retain their regular meeting dates.

Redevelopment Committee likely will have a regular date and time, but also will be assembled for special meetings as necessary.

In related news, U.S. Navy plans to transfer ownership of Building 231 — the “new” control tower facility. built in 2001 — have been delayed again, this time likely into January or February.

The newer of the two towers at the former military airfield originally had been scheduled to change ownership in October 2013 and then again in late November. However, the most recent timeline offered by the Navy’s Base Realignment and Closure offices is within 60 days of the end of a “finding of suitability for transfer,” or FOST, process, currently being conducted by the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency and the state Department of Environmental Protection.

The FOST process is expected to be finished by the end of the month.

The 15,600-square-foot building stands on almost 6 acres of land, and the tower height is about 100 feet above grade.

U.S. Navy officials in San Diego, Calif., said a combination of factors, including the 16-day federal government shutdown in October, contributed to the delay.

At present, MRRA has no prospective tenants for the specialized property.

jtleonard@timesrecord.com

The Times Record Sustaining Sponsor
We believe a community must be informed to thrive. bowdoin.edu