Feds return excess land

THURSDAY, 03 MARCH 2011 04:53 BY THERESE HART | VARIETY NEWS STAFF

The federal government yesterday returned 450 acres of land in South Finegayan to the government of Guam

Governor Eddie Calvo prepares to sign the proclamation returning 450 acres of excess federal property back to the Government of Guam. Photo courtesy of Delegate Bordallo’s office.

This comes 17 years after the passage of H.R. 2144 introduced by former Congressman Robert Underwood and signed into Public Law 103-339 by President Bill Clinton on Oct. 6, 1994, known as the Guam Excess Lands Act.

The turnover, held yesterday in Washington D.C., included the ancient Chamorro village of Hila’an.

Assistant Secretary of the Navy Roger Natsuhara and General Services Administration Chief of Staff Michael Robertson presented Governor Eddie Baza Calvo with the deed to 450 acres in the South Finegayan property.

The land constitutes the remaining available properties identified in the public law. The General Services Administration is the repository of federally held lands.

Congresswoman Madeleine Z. Bordallo, Governor Eddie Baza Calvo, Senators Rory Respicio, Judi Guthertz and Frank Blas Jr. were on hand to witness the historic event.

Governor Calvo signed the Memorandum of Agreement with GSA, returning the land to the government of Guam. The signing occurred shortly before the start of the Interagency Group on Insular Areas meeting at the U.S. Department of the Interior.

Victory

“Team Guam sent a victory home today. This is a step forward in the right direction. It also demonstrates the federal government’s commitment to honor longstanding and important agreements with Guamanians. Our negotiations will continue until the promise of the shrinking of the federal footprint on Guam is met. The federal government recognizes that Team Guam is speaking with one voice. We know what we want and we have the courage to fight for our future. Our people fought for decades for this,” said Calvo.

Crown lands

Joey Leon Guerrero from the Guam Ancestral Lands Commission said yesterday that the returned lands consist of Spanish Crown Lands and lands owned by original landowners. The Commission will be the guardian of the property.

Leon Guerrero said some of the lands could be used for commercial development and some could be returned to the original landowners, depending on the policy of the current administration and the Guam Legislature.

Congresswoman Bordallo clarified that the 450 acres are not part of the Navy’s commitment to have a net negative footprint on Guam as part of the military build-up. She said this is just a transmittal of the remaining available property identified in Public Law 103-339, the Guam Excess Lands Act, to the government of Guam.

Calvo and Bordallo recognized Assistant Secretary Tony Babauta for his leadership in ensuring that the requirements of the Guam Excess Lands Act were fulfilled.

Assistant Secretary Babauta has been working with Congresswoman Bordallo in Washington, D.C. to finalize the terms of the land return.

“Today’s ceremony, which returned 450 acres of excess federal property to the people of Guam, was a meaningful and symbolic act resulting from years of hard work. Beginning with former Congressman Robert Underwood and later shepherded by Congresswoman Madeleine Bordallo, the process of implementing the commitments made by the Guam Excess Lands Act, to return former Navy and Air Force property at no cost to Guam, has now been completed by the Obama Administration,” said Babauta.

In a joint statement the Guam senators said in 2006, the property was appraised at $14 million, “so clearly the return of these lands are significant.”

Today, during additional meetings with the Department of Defense, the senators will present Resolution No. 30-31 (LS), which further outlines Guam’s concerns and presents a solution for addressing these issues. The senators and the governor are in Washington D.C. to meet with the Interagency Group on Insular Areas (IGIA) regarding the Guam Military Buildup

DoD to build Marines' housing on GALC land

by Lannie Walker from KUAM.com

Guam - It seems the Tiyan landowners who are in line to receive the Federal Aviation Administration property in South Finegayan are having not only to deal with a lawsuit filed by other original landowners, but there's no telling what challenges may lay ahead now that Uncle Sam wants the same piece of land.

Landowner Benny Crawford told KUAM News, "We at one time thought wow we are going get dirt we are going to build our ranch and do what we need to do and life goes on, but now with that military buildup, that's not going to happen. However, we realize now that there is a need for these two parcels: the FAA and the Marbo Command."

According to the Record of Decision the Department of Defense plans to use the former FAA property in South Finegayan to build homes for the U.S. Marines and their dependents. Yet this same piece of property is the subject of a lawsuit filed by a number of original landowners who argue that a new public law that deeds the land as well as land at Marbo Command to Tiyan landowners is unfair.

The Tiyan landowners are being given these properties in exchange for the government taking their properties for use by the airport. Crawford has been at the forefront of the battle for compensation, and said, "Originally it wasn't about finances it was about the dirt and now it turned out to be about finances and it might be lucrative for the landowners. And if that would be the case right on more power to the landowners."

But according to the Tiyan land swap law, the Guam Legislature made known that their intention was not for these ancestral lands to be made available to the Department of Defense. So the worst-case scenario, should the military moves forward with the ROD, would be that one of the recourses it might have to pursue is condemnation.

Crawford continued, "However if they are going to condemn the land that doesn't leave the landowner in a good situation because condemnation would be fair market value and leaves us out of the negotiation, how much and how to use land for."

On the other hand, Attorney Curtis Van De Veld, who represents landowners against the Tiyan land exchange law, believes there's billions that could still be made. But it wouldn't be just for Tiyan landowners but all original landowners under the Guam Ancestral Lands Commission. "And it's going to be substantial," he noted. "The estimate is in excess of $2 billion."

Van De Veld still believes the deal with the Guam Economic Development Authority and Jortberg Properties is still valid. The two sides were on the cusp of signing a deal to lease the GALC's FAA property when public law was signed mandating that same piece of land be deeded to Tiyan landowners. GEDA subsequently withdrew the request for proposal.

The attorney explained, "When you make an offer and it is accepted, you create a contract. And there was no termination of the offer prior to the acceptance was my understanding, so I think there is likely to be a binding lease on the property."

While Jortberg Properties has not indicated what it plans to do about the GEDA request for proposal, Van De Veld is still moving forward with his clients case, hoping to strike the Tiyan land swap law so that all landowners will benefit no matter what's done with the land. Van De Veld's request for a temporary restraining order has already been granted by a superior court judge, with additional hearings planned ahead.

"At that point, it will simply be a matter of submitting legal argument to the court and letting the court come up with a full and complete judgment in a short period of time which in the best interest of everyone," said Van de Veld.

Japan funding almost $500M for relocation

by Sabrina Salas Matanane from KUAM.com

Guam - With a Record of Decision on the military buildup due out next week, it's becoming increasingly clear the transition of troops is going to happen and where they plan to plant their boots.

As a matter of fact, an announcement was made in Tokyo that U.S. Ambassador in Japan John Roos and Japanese Foreign Minister Katsuya Okada have sealed an agreement providing that the Government of Japan will provide almost a half-billion dollars to the U.S. Government during Fiscal Year 2010 for the Marines' relocation from Okinawa to Guam.

And according to the breakdown of the money, it's going to projects in the Finegayan and Apra areas.

$497 million is the total, to be divided as such:

• $309 million will go to on-base infrastructure projects in the Finegayan area
• $25 million will go to the construction of a fire station
• $25 million to build a port operation unit headquarters building in the Apra area
• $96 million to build a medical clinic in the Apra area
• $43 million to design the Marines administrative building, headquarters, police station, physical training complex, dining facility and bachelor enlisted quarters all in the Finegayan area

Final EIS This Summer

Final EIS out by summer
Thursday, 25 March 2010 04:55
by Zita Y. Taitano
Marianas Variety News Staff

THE final version of the environmental impact statement for the military buildup could be ready by late June or early July, Joint Guam Program Office director John Jackson said yesterday.

Jackson made the announcement before the Mayors Council during yesterday’s special meeting.

He said JGPO has received a total of 8,600 comments on the draft report.

He said the comments came from different places including Guam, Japan, the Philippines, and Hawaii, among others.

“Those comments range from ‘We’re glad to see the Marines coming’ to ‘Yankee go home,’” Jackson said.

The documents received will be reviewed by a team in Hawaii and then put in 45 categories for the final version.

And while he didn’t go into what those categories were, Jackson said that they would be included in the final version and be referred to as actionable comments. Other comments that do not have any direct impact on the final study will be omitted.

“Once the final study is put out on the street, there will be a 30-day period from the time it is published to the time that the record of decision can be made in August,” Jackson said.

Jackson explained that the record of decision will be comprised of multiple alternatives and preferred alternatives by the Secretary of the Navy.

“The Secretary of the Navy may say he concurs with the preferred alternative at Finegayan for the Marine Corps Base or he may say I like that part, but I also want you to modify it to do the following things so the record of decision basically takes the recommendations from the final EIS and the decision signs off on it with yes or no,” said Jackson.

As for the failing grade that the draft report has received from the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency, Jackson said when the study was drafted last September, it was based on the input from the scoping meetings, and that several issues brought up had already been addressed.

He said Nancy Sutley, chairwoman of the Environmental Quality Council, told him the issues and concerns were already taken care of.

Jackson, however, didn’t specify the issues that he said have been addressed.

PNC :: Cruz and Perez Debate Viability of Road To Finegayan

PNC :: Cruz and Perez Debate Viability of Road To Finegayan

Friday, 5 February 2010

Guam - Vice-Speaker Senator BJ Cruz is still concerned about a proposed road that will run from Marine Drive to South Finegayan.

The senator has been critical of the plan to build this road that is shown on some maps as a miltary only road. While Cruz initially thought that the road was not present in the military's Draft EIS he has found that it is. What is of more concern to him however is that the road will run directly through prime real estate that local landowners have been trying to develop for tourism. The senator says that as the chairman of tourism he is trying to protect some expensive land in the Dos Amantes or Two Lover's point area that is ideal for developing resorts.

Cruz is concerned that the road will cut right through the most desireable part of the land. Department of Public Works Director Larry Perez however says that the road will work within the land use plan of the Dos Amantes or two lovers point area. He says that the road they will build will actually help landwoners by providing access to their properties.

Perez also stresses that this is still just a proposed option of DOD and many changes can happen to it between now and it's actual construction. In addition to this Perez says that because it will be paid for by federal dollars it must be accessible to the local community as per federal guidelines. As for the map that lists it as a military road, Perez says the map is only reffering to a part of the road that runs through military property.

Written by : Clynt Ridgell

Perez amends previous statement on road project

Perez amends previous statement on road project

Thursday, 04 February 2010 02:43
by Zita Y. Taitano | Variety News Staff

VICE speaker B.J. Cruz asked public works director Larry Perez to explain why the Department of Public Works’ plan to connect Marine Corps Drive to South Finegayan is not included in the 2030 Guam Transportation Plan.

Cruz, in a letter to the outgoing director, recalled that the plan for the construction of a new roadway from the intersection of Marine Corps Drive and Harmon Road to the Finegayan area was mentioned during last week’s hearing on the draft environmental impact statement.

At the hearing, Perez indicated that the project was in the draft study but not in the transportation plan, leaving Cruz curious.

“I am concerned over both the process that led to the proposal for this new road and the impact that construction of the road would have on the surrounding environment and the affected landowners,” the vice speaker stated in the letter.

Perez responded by saying, “although I inadvertently, mistakenly made the statement last meeting, and I stand corrected.

He added, “it was established there for purposes of creating new roads to minimize congestion on roadways to the entire community.”

Perez further explained that the road connection is not intended to for military use but is being created to address road congestion on Guam.

He also said DPW is actively collaborating with the military on development and construction projects to include mitigation and estimated costs of payment by the military.

“It is one of many projects needed for obviating and mitigating the transportation impact of our transportation network,” Perez said. “Everything that’s in the 2030 master plan is related in the buildup and those that are in the [draft impact study] are paid for by the military.”