BY SUE M. MORGAN
Staff Writer
Eatontown EATONTOWN — With a potential loss of $1.6 million in tax revenues for this borough and four neighboring communities at stake, local leaders must fight to get Fort Monmouth off the Pentagon’s hit list, according to Mayor Gerald Tarantol .
Whether or not the federal Base Realignment and Closure (BRAC) Commission, the nine-member entity deciding the ultimate fate of the fort, will be sympathetic to Eatontown, Tinton Falls, Oceanport, Little Silver and Shrewsbury, the five towns that could be most affected by the proposed closing, is anyone’s guess, Tarantolo admits.
Still, with 25 percent of the fort’s total civilian work force residing in those five communities, local leaders have to give it their best shot at the regional hearing scheduled for July 8 in Baltimore, Tarantolo said on Monday.
“Our real focus is to get Fort Monmouth removed from the closure list,” Tarantolo said.
As ammunition, Tarantolo will draw upon information gathered by Jeffrey Donohue Associates, a New Hampshire-based research firm that specializes in studying the effects of military base closures upon their host communities.
The five named towns, which either host or are bordering Fort Monmouth, collectively commissioned Donohue’s study by the use of a $50,000 grant from the New Jersey Department of Community Affairs (DCA) Smart Growth program, Tarantolo explained.
Donohue’s study, which is still under way, looks at how shutting down the fort would affect the five towns’ property tax revenues, employment of its residents, the real estate market, and other economic and quality-of-life factors, he added.
According to Donohue, more than 1,300 of Fort Monmouth’s 5,035 civilian workers reside in one of the five communities that commissioned the Smart Growth study, Tarantolo said.
Donohue’s report also found that about 425,000 square feet of office space outside of Fort Monmouth’s borders would become vacant within the five towns if the fort were to close, he continued.
That office space, generally in industrial parks, is now used by defense contractors working at the fort, Tarantolo explained.
The mayor acknowledged that the possible economic impact on a host community does not rank high with the Pentagon when it recommends bases for possible closure.
However, the local economy does come into play and is listed as one of the “secondary criteria” when the BRAC commission starts looking closer at targeted bases, Tarantolo said.
“Economic impact is listed as number six of eight criteria,” Tarantolo said. “We’ll focus on that.”
Donohue’s report is expected to be completed by the time the regional hearing comes up and could include statistics applicable to municipalities beyond the five involved in the initial study, Tarantolo said.
Those other municipalities which could experience a ripple effect include Long Branch, West Long Branch, Sea Bright, Monmouth Beach, Red Bank, Fair Haven and Rumson, he noted.
On Saturday, Tarantolo shared a draft of Donohue’s findings with the mayors of all of those communities as well as those from Tinton Falls, Oceanport, Little Silver and Shrewsbury during a closed Two River Council of Mayors meeting.
The mayors group meets monthly to discuss issues pertinent to their respective communities.
Besides the civilian work force, Eatontown officials have predicted that more than 2,500 military contractors working on the post could be out of work should the fort close.
Many of the base’s civilian employees would be asked to relocate to the Aberdeen (Md.) Proving Ground, where the Pentagon is seeking to move the fort’s communications and electronics commands.
Pentagon officials have stated that the federal government would incur a one-time cost of $822 million by moving most of the fort’s missions to the Aberdeen Proving Ground, but save $143 million annually over six years.
Other fort employees could be asked to move to other installations elsewhere in Maryland, Virginia, Ohio and New York state, the Pentagon has said.
The Eatontown Borough Council has passed a resolution requesting that the BRAC commission carefully review the military’s selection criteria before choosing to close Fort Monmouth.
Earlier this month, West Long Branch’s Borough Council also approved a resolution opposing the Pentagon’s recommendation to close the fort, due to the possible economic impact on that community and its residents.