thedrifter
10-07-07, 09:42 AM
Plans underway to expand Marine Corps’ eastern N.C. presence by 11,500
By Sue Book
Sun Journal Staff
October 6, 2007 - 10:18PM
The Marine Corps is expected to announce this week it will add 11,500 Marines to bases in eastern North Carolina.
The roughly 25 percent ramp up includes the addition of between 2,000 and 2,500 new billets at MCAS Cherry Point to staff temporary helicopter squadrons.
The largest additions are planned for Camp Lejeune and New River.
An announcement by Major Gen. Robert C. Dickerson, commander of Marine Corps Installations-East, and Lt. Gov. Beverly Perdue is expected Friday at Jacksonville City Hall. The session, to which area county, municipal and business leaders have been invited, will describe the build up and an environmental impact study to determine the area’s needs and ability to accommodate the new numbers.
The effect of the increase, which is unrelated to the 2005 Base Realignment and Closure changes, is expected to have greater economic impact on the areas around Camp Lejeune, New River and Cherry Point than the BRAC changes on the area around Fort Bragg.
The addition of 11,500 more Marines and their families could temporarily tax regional infrastructure and resources.
Area officials were briefed privately Wednesday at a New Bern law office.
New Bern Mayor Tom Bayliss and Havelock Mayor Jimmy Sanders, who also serves as chairman of Allies for Cherry Point’s Tomorrow, were at a briefing about the expansion by contract Marine Corps consultant Marsel-Day Consulting of Washington, D.C.
Gen. Dickerson told area civilian leaders gathered in New Bern in May 2006 to expect two helicopter squadrons at Cherry Point by 2008. He said the two reserve squadrons, probably for CH-53s and Hueys, are getting that assignment to better use the base’s capacity.
The environmental impact study for counties thought to be most affected is required by the National Environmental Protection Act and includes Onslow, Jones, Pender, Craven, Carteret and, possibly, Pamlico.
A small ad-hoc committee of local business leaders has been meeting with Dickerson’s staff over the last several months to help determine the best conduit for money from the Pentagon to be used to plan for families.
Planning will address infrastructure, schools, wastewater and other impact on the area. Grant money is expected to come from the Pentagon and is initially expected to be about $3 million, followed by subsequent impact grants as need is determined.
It is expected to be distributed through North Carolina’s Eastern Region, a 13-county regional economic development agency.
Ellie
By Sue Book
Sun Journal Staff
October 6, 2007 - 10:18PM
The Marine Corps is expected to announce this week it will add 11,500 Marines to bases in eastern North Carolina.
The roughly 25 percent ramp up includes the addition of between 2,000 and 2,500 new billets at MCAS Cherry Point to staff temporary helicopter squadrons.
The largest additions are planned for Camp Lejeune and New River.
An announcement by Major Gen. Robert C. Dickerson, commander of Marine Corps Installations-East, and Lt. Gov. Beverly Perdue is expected Friday at Jacksonville City Hall. The session, to which area county, municipal and business leaders have been invited, will describe the build up and an environmental impact study to determine the area’s needs and ability to accommodate the new numbers.
The effect of the increase, which is unrelated to the 2005 Base Realignment and Closure changes, is expected to have greater economic impact on the areas around Camp Lejeune, New River and Cherry Point than the BRAC changes on the area around Fort Bragg.
The addition of 11,500 more Marines and their families could temporarily tax regional infrastructure and resources.
Area officials were briefed privately Wednesday at a New Bern law office.
New Bern Mayor Tom Bayliss and Havelock Mayor Jimmy Sanders, who also serves as chairman of Allies for Cherry Point’s Tomorrow, were at a briefing about the expansion by contract Marine Corps consultant Marsel-Day Consulting of Washington, D.C.
Gen. Dickerson told area civilian leaders gathered in New Bern in May 2006 to expect two helicopter squadrons at Cherry Point by 2008. He said the two reserve squadrons, probably for CH-53s and Hueys, are getting that assignment to better use the base’s capacity.
The environmental impact study for counties thought to be most affected is required by the National Environmental Protection Act and includes Onslow, Jones, Pender, Craven, Carteret and, possibly, Pamlico.
A small ad-hoc committee of local business leaders has been meeting with Dickerson’s staff over the last several months to help determine the best conduit for money from the Pentagon to be used to plan for families.
Planning will address infrastructure, schools, wastewater and other impact on the area. Grant money is expected to come from the Pentagon and is initially expected to be about $3 million, followed by subsequent impact grants as need is determined.
It is expected to be distributed through North Carolina’s Eastern Region, a 13-county regional economic development agency.
Ellie