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« DOD takes final stab at shipyard | Main | Yard decision due today » August 23, 2005
Shipyard awaits word on its fate
PORTSMOUTH - All that’s left for the Seacoast Shipyard Association is to sit and wait. Retired Capt. Bill McDonough, a former Portsmouth Naval Shipyard commander, said the association is not sending representatives to this week’s final Base Realignment and Closure hearings in Washington D.C. Instead, shipyard supporters will stay at home and watch the hearings on C-SPAN2, waiting for the BRAC Commission’s vote on whether to remove the Portsmouth Naval Shipyard from the recommended base-closure list. The shipyard needs five of the nine commissioners to vote to take it off the Pentagon’s recommended closure list. The BRAC Commission’s closure list will be given on Sept. 8 to President Bush, who must accept or reject the entire list by Sept. 23. Bush has said he will accept the list and send it to Congress, which will have 45 days to enact legislation to reject the list or it becomes law. McDonough said he expects the commission will vote on the Portsmouth yard by late morning or early afternoon Wednesday. Once the vote is announced, McDonough said yard supporters will begin organizing in front of Gate 1 at the shipyard. McDonough said he expects the informal event to begin two hours after the announcement in order to give enough time for people from across Maine and New Hampshire to arrive. "We don’t know what the results are going to be," he said. "We’re hoping it’s going to be a happy occasion." McDonough said the association’s board of directors will meet today at 4 p.m. at the Town Hall in Kittery, Maine, to finalize details for the Gate 1 gathering. As of Monday, McDonough said the association has not contacted New Hampshire and Maine’s gubernatorial and congressional delegation to see if they will join supporters outside Gate 1. He said, however, he expected local politicians from Kittery and Portsmouth to attend the event. The BRAC Commission hearings are scheduled to start on Wednesday at 8 a.m. and go through Saturday, if need be. "It’s going to go as long as it takes," BRAC Commission spokesman Robert McCreary said Monday. McCreary said commissioners will vote on each installation by branch of military service in the following order: Army, Navy, Air Force and Joint Cross Service. The Kittery Town Council announced on Monday it will hold a news conference at Traip Academy two hours after the BRAC Commission vote. In the event the announcement is made after 5 p.m., the news conference will be held at 9 a.m. the next day. YOU'LL KNOW AS SOON AS WE DO Supporters of Portsmouth Naval Shipyard expect to find out Wednesday whether the base will remain designated for closure. The Herald plans to report the news immediately at www.seacoastonline.com. On TV: Hearings will be televised live on C-SPAN2. They are scheduled to run from Wednesday to Friday, but could go into Saturday. They will run 8 a.m. - noon, 1-5 p.m. and 7-10 p.m. daily. By Emily Aronson Posted by admin at August 23, 2005 11:09 AM
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