Officials to break ground Monday on $477 million complex at APG to house Fort Monmouth's communications jobs

Army officials are scheduled to break ground Monday on a $477 million complex at Aberdeen Proving Ground that will house communications jobs that are relocating from Fort Meade. While the Asbury Park Press newspaper continues to report on efforts to prove the closing of the Fort Meade base is costing the government money instead of saving it, it appears APG will be getting ready for the 8,000 jobs expected to come nonetheless. The building will be for C4ISR: mission in command, control, communications, computers, intelligence, surveillance and reconnaissance, according to a Baltimore Sun story.

"The 1.5-million-square-foot facility, built by Whiting-Turner Contractors, should be ready for occupancy in the fall of 2010, a year ahead of the deadline for the completion of BRAC."

More construction at the 73,000-acre base will start this summer on a test and evaluation center as well as a comprehensive medical research unit, the story said.

Construction began three months ago on a 200-acre business and technology park known as GATE (Government and Technology Enterprise) that will include a 60,000-square-foot laboratory and an 80,000-square- foot office building, according to the Sun.

"The GATE project is part of an 'enhanced-use program,' a nationwide push by the Department of Defense to find new ways of financing maintenance and improvements on military installations during a time when the defense budget is being stretched to support combat operations overseas. Leasing the land helps pay for many of the other base upgrades.

"'One of the reasons we won BRAC is because APG has these lands available for lease,' said James C. Richardson, Harford's economic development director."

Lt. Gov. Brown proposes plan to get companies to help pay for roads and schools

Workers are expected to break ground this week on the first building to go in at Aberdeen Proving Ground's GATE project, according to a story in Friday's Aegis. As construction gets ready to begin on the Government and Technology Enterprise business park, state officials are looking for ways to get the private companies that will come there to help pay for new schools, roads and utilities in the area. The Aegis reports that Lt. Gov. Anthony Brown, who is Chairman of the Base Realignment and Closure Subcabinet, is proposing a plan that would allow governments to negotiate up-front payments from these companies for infrastructure needs. Officials are concerned that these companies are likely to be exempt from some taxes and up-front payments would provide governments with money needed right away to accommodate the expected growth. The story says Brown is expected to present his plan to Gov. Martin O'Malley on Monday.