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by Annee Tara
Coastal Journal contributor
 BRUNSWICK --One thing is for sure: redevelopment of the Base - Naval Air Station-Brunswick - is a process, not an event. It's been nearly two years since the Midcoast Regional Redevelopment Authority took on the job of implementing the Reuse Master Plan, which was developed by a Local Redevelopment Authority in the year after the Department of Defense announced that the Base would be closing in 2011.
To mark the occasion, MRRA held its Second Annual Meeting in Freeport last week. That in itself is significant. The first “R” in MRRA stands for “Regional” and this agency differs from its “Local” predecessor in the scope of its enterprise. While there were nine Brunswick residents on the 13-member Local Redevelopment Agency, only four of the current nine members of MRRA live in the Town (there are two vacancies). Monthly meetings have been held in Topsham or Bath, as well as in Brunswick.
The Annual Meeting, which featured a dinner and a presentation by Maine economist Chuck Lawton, was preceded by the regular MRRA monthly meeting. As typically happens at those meetings, Executive Director Steve Levesque and the various standing committees reported on the progress during the past month.
And there has been some progress. For example, one piece of the Reuse Plan that has gained some momentum is renewable energy technology. Levesque reported that MRRA has received a total of $400,000 in grants to initiate a renewable energy center feasibility study “in the very near future.” Levesque was a member of the delegation that accompanied Governor Baldacci on his recent trade mission to explore possibilities in the wind energy sector and said he “came away with some very good leads” in the “manufacturing supply chain.” Later, during the public comment portion of the meeting, Richard Crossman of Camden encouraged MRRA to pursue supplying the wind power industry and Adam Cote, who chairs MRRA's Business Attraction Committee agreed that Maine is well-positioned to lead the wind power sector, noting the recent grant awarded to the University of Maine, which will lead a 38-member consortium in the study of deepwater wind power.
A more contentious issue turned out to be the future use of the airfields. As part of the planning process, the Local Redevelopment Authority agreed that aviation uses would be part of the Reuse Plan. During the public comment period, Harpswell resident Kate Chipman made a passionate statement against “growing militarism.” Specifically, she is concerned about a rumored testing site of unmanned air vehicles, or drones. She also argued against any future air shows, such as the Blue Angels, which have appeared in past years and which Chip believes pose an unacceptable cost in health and lost business to the area. She closed with a plea for “transparency,” which prompted Richardson to ask Levesque to review the extensive public input process that informed the Reuse Plan.
That process continues. Just this month MRRA members met with the Brunswick Town Council, which suggested that more people could be involved if MRRA meetings were held in the late afternoon, rather than at 9 a.m. As a result, MRRA agreed to reschedule future meetings to 4 p.m., starting with the November meeting which will be on November 17 at the municipal meeting room at Maine Street Station in Brunswick.
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