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BRAC recommendations


Hansel

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Man, all this talk on property and taxes makes my decision to build in EGF look pretty good. Standard neighborhood, no golf courses, although the new one is just up the street, no rivers or lakes. Last year we built a 2200 SF, 4 bdrm, 2 bath house, 2 car attached garage, finished basement, other upgrades on a 90x150 lot, $142,000 (appraised at 146) which included the $18,000 for the lot, minus the $10K city incentive forgiven after 10 years. $1700 per year in taxes.

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Man, all this talk on property and taxes makes my decision to build in EGF look pretty good.  Standard neighborhood, no golf courses, although the new one is just up the street, no rivers or lakes.  Last year we built a 2200 SF, 4 bdrm, 2 bath house, 2 car attached garage, finished basement, other upgrades on a 90x150 lot, $142,000 (appraised at 146) which included the $18,000 for the lot, minus the $10K city incentive forgiven after 10 years.  $1700 per year in taxes.

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I would think that living in EGF (or Crookston, or Fisher, or Warren...) has its good and bad points. You can buy property for less, but you also sell it for less. You pay lower property taxes, but you're also constantly dealing with under-funded public schools which seems to mean yearly staff and program cuts in a lot of local Minnesota school districts. Which is the better situation is in the eye of the beholder, I guess.

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It's not over yet. It appears BRAC may be doing some reshuffling of the current list.

They challenged the Navy on whether a rural county in Georgia was capable of handling an influx of thousands of sailors and their dependents from the submarine base in Groton, Conn., which the Pentagon proposes closing.

And they questioned why the Air Force wants to keep Eielson Air Force Base in Alaska and Grand Forks Air Force Base in North Dakota up and running, largely for training purposes, even though thousands of civilian and military jobs would be sent to other installations.

Panel members also asked why the Pentagon did not go beyond the proposals to merge functions like medical operations and truck-driving school, moving to consolidate other functions, like undergraduate pilot training and the war colleges for each of the armed services.

NYTimes

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There was another clue in today's Herald about what the Pentagon has in mind for the Grand Forks Air Force Base. I found this statement by Sen. Conrad especially interesting:

Conrad said the Air Force is analyzing the possibility of providing air space over North Dakota for joint air and ground operations that would involve Air Force, Army and special forces.

"It's on the way," Conrad said.

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I found this statement by Sen. Conrad especially interesting:

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What will be even more interesting is the coming outcry from those who don't want to turn our "beautiful ND skies" into a "war-games playground."

Mark my words... that too, is "on the way."

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I've held back quite a bit and I just want to send out my condolences towards the inevitable wholesale loss of civilian jobs at the GFAFB. There are at least two schools out there that will undoubtedly be closed. If there is any good news in this, they'll find a way to keep one open. Certainly both won't stay open. There won't be enough kids for that.

So there will be an influx of unemployed teachers and school staff to the greater Grand Forks area. The military gives a ton of revenue to the area. Losing over 80 percent of the base is a huge blow.

Unmanned drones? I guess.

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If this all plays out in the DoD's timeline there is ample time to try to create private sector jobs to replace those that would go.

The catch is you have to be working all sides of this:

- try to keep the base's current mission, and

- work to bring in a new mission that will stand the test of time, and

- work to bring in new public sector missions (homeland security?), and

- (most importantly) work to bring in new private sector companies and jobs.

Grand Forks has a nice potential for bio-tech and aerospace companies with UND being in town. They have to keep working all of their positives to their advantage (ala Cirrus).

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Even this guy says to GF to get out in front of it.

And as far as the ND ANG in Fargo, they're starting to realize that the handwriting may be on the wall also. The outcome there could affect Hector Airport (" ... COULD LEAVE HECTOR AIRPORT WITHOUT FIRE AND RESCUE PROTECTION ... " meaning Fargo would have to provide all of it and pick up all of the bill).

An AP story about the future of the ND ANG.

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  • 2 weeks later...
  • 2 weeks later...

It is too bad that all of your only sources is the media. I am not at liberty to experss my opinion, but it is fun to see that you guys tihnk you know what you are really talking about. And how long it takes for you all to get the right and final answers. Please keep up this entertainment of repeating what was reported on the news.

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It is too bad that all of your only sources is the media. I am not at liberty to experss my opinion, but it is fun to see that you guys tihnk you know what you are really talking about. And how long it takes for you all to get the right and final answers. Please keep up this entertainment of repeating what was reported on the news.

<{POST_SNAPBACK}>

Care to fill us, the great unwashed, in, O Wise One? ;)

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It is too bad that all of your only sources is the media. I am not at liberty to experss my opinion, but it is fun to see that you guys tihnk you know what you are really talking about. And how long it takes for you all to get the right and final answers. Please keep up this entertainment of repeating what was reported on the news.

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Thanks for the insight.

Great post

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It is too bad that all of your only sources is the media. I am not at liberty to experss my opinion, but it is fun to see that you guys tihnk you know what you are really talking about. And how long it takes for you all to get the right and final answers. Please keep up this entertainment of repeating what was reported on the news.

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Now that is entertainment! ;)

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It is too bad that all of your only sources is the media. I am not at liberty to experss my opinion, but it is fun to see that you guys tihnk you know what you are really talking about. And how long it takes for you all to get the right and final answers. Please keep up this entertainment of repeating what was reported on the news.

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We only "repeat" the news as a public service to dimwits who can't understand the written or spoken word. You're welcome. ;)

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Firstly, the proprietor of this site has told all of us repeatedly that people from all over the country and world read this site. What is reported in the local news is just that, local news. Repeating those things here helps the folks who aren't in the local Grand Forks news media market.

Next, putting "my sources" statements out there is great: No matter what unexpected development occurs you can claim that you knew it all along and who can prove you wrong because you never spilled what you claimed to know.

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Firstly, the proprietor of this site has told all of us repeatedly that people from all over the country and world read this site. What is reported in the local news is just that, local news. Repeating those things here helps the folks who aren't in the local Grand Forks news media market.

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Local Grand Forks news is not just that, local news. The Grand Forks Herald along with other regional papers and television news stations are all online for people to enjoy all over the country and world just like this site.

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It is too bad that all of your only sources is the media. I am not at liberty to experss my opinion, but it is fun to see that you guys tihnk you know what you are really talking about. And how long it takes for you all to get the right and final answers. Please keep up this entertainment of repeating what was reported on the news.

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I love when people do this, then say they are not at liberty to share anything. If you know everything then why come on here? Why not share some of what you know rather then putting others down?

I'm an ESPNInsider and I'll spill the beans at any time. That's what people do these days, they share information. Without it ENRON would still be running sufficiently!

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  • 2 weeks later...
My next worry is that in order to save Ellsworth, another base might be moved onto the closing list to make up for it. I hope that is not Grand Forks AFB.

When BRAC visited S.D., Ellsworth supporters not only fought to save their current B1 mission, but also lobbied to replace GFAFB as the site for future UAV missions.

WDAZ: South Dakota targets GF Air Force Base

They [Ellsworth supporters]argued that they are a better fit for emerging missions like unmanned aerial vehicles.

...

In order to get off the BRAC list, a base has to convince commissioners to add someone else.  It appears Rapid City may be pointing a finger at Grand Forks.

Aberdeen News:

Grand Forks was not one of the five bases selected five years ago for Global Hawks, an advanced drone equipped with a long-range aerial reconnaissance system that relays high-resolution battlefield images.

...

But Sen. Kent Conrad, D-N.D., worked hard to revive the issue and bring an emerging branch of the UAV operation to Grand Forks, Rampelberg said.

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  • 4 weeks later...

For those who don't see the news elsewhere:

Conrad says G.F. not expected on base closing list

The Base Realignment and Closure Commission is meeting to decide whether to add military bases to the Pentagon's recommended list of closures. Sen. Kent Conrad, D-N.D., says he was told the Grand Forks Air Force Base will not be added to the closing list.
The commission is meeting today to vote on changes to the Pentagon's proposed list. This meeting follows a series of testimony, from which one of the most interesting extracts for GFAFB was:

Commissioner Philip Coyle, a former Assistant Secretary of Defense, asked Air Force officials at the hearing why they were relocating the tanker mission when Grand Forks' location in the northern part of the country is favorable for flying missions across the North Pole.

"Isn't Grand Forks especially advantageous for tankers?" Coyle asked.

Moseley agreed but declined to elaborate.

"Absolutely," he said.

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