Valparaiso airs concerns about Air Force plan, noise

VALPARAISO - It was standing room only at City Hall on Tuesday when officials held a public hearing to discuss the possible effect of the Eglin Air Force Base's Joint Strike Fighter mission.

"The purpose of tonight's meeting was to tell our people where we stood. So they know the full scope and implications of the document," said Valparaiso Mayor Bruce Arnold.

The document is a draft of the Joint Land Use Study.

The 2005 Base Realignment and Closure Commission named Eglin as the new home of the U.S. Army's 7th Special Forces Group Airborne from Fort Bragg, N.C., and the newly established F-35 Joint Strike Fighter Integrated Training Center.

As a requirement of the National Environmental Policy Act, the Department of Defense provided Okaloosa County with a grant to produce the study.

It discusses the possible effects of the new additions on the base and its surrounding community.

City Administrator Lisa Algiere shared 12 recommendations made by the study draft. She and Arnold questioned whether the city would be able to comply with suggestions that included developing new building codes and the retrofitting of existing buildings.

The report also suggested that the city purchase land in the Potential Crash Zone.

"We're supposed to buy it so that the land would be laid to waste," said Arnold. "We don't know if the city is going to be able to collect enough ad-valorem taxes after property values go down."

While the report covers Okaloosa, Walton and Santa Rosa counties, Tuesday's meeting addressed the issues that affect Valparaiso.

Arnold shared his concerns about the Environmental Impact Study.

"We got the interim EIS in April. We had only three weeks for our initial response, which I considered to be unreasonable," he said. "It's all technical and we had 60 days to provide our input."

"Our greatest concerns are noise and safety for residents," said Algiere. "It's going to greatly impact our way of life and property value."

Arnold said he opposed the use of Eglin's north-south runway by the new F-35 jets. He suggested a new runway be built if Eglin insisted on the need for the runway. He equated the cost of a new runway to the cost of a new F-35.

"We're not in the position to dictate to the Air Force," said Arnold. "We just want to sit at the table. We feel that there are other things that could be done that will abate this problem."

"I take issue with the presentation," Valparaiso resident Pat Roesch said after the meeting. "I didn't like the negativity of the presentation. I felt that some of it was a misuse of the information available."

The city has retained a lawyer to review the documents and to be prepared to fight any action that would not be beneficial to Valparaiso.

"We need to be proactive," Arnold said. "We don't need to sit and wait to see what they want to do to us and twiddle our thumbs. We only have 60 days."

"The city has to be proactive on the residents' behalf," said Valparaiso resident Herb Jones. "I can't understand why (U.S. Rep.) Jeff Miller and some of the Florida delegates haven't requested a GAO study that would give us an independent evaluation of the Air Force's position and the residents' position."

"I'm upset because they sound like they don't take our concerns into consideration," said resident Rebecca Madonia. "I'm just expressing concerns to come up with better alternatives."

Arnold solicited help of those in attendance. Flyers with a mailing list of congressional representatives and a sample letter of protest were passed out.

"We have done all we feel we can do now," he said. "Now it's going to take messages from the community, from you."

"Everybody scream," said Madonia. "Everybody start screaming."

Daily News Staff Writer Mona Moore can be reached at 863-1111, Ext. 1443.