Projo 7 to 7 News Blog

The Navy has again granted the Bureau of Indian Affairs a deadline extension to complete its application to acquire, for free, surplus Navy land on Aquidneck Island for two area tribes.

The bureau, unable to meet a July 10 deadline, requested an additional 30 days to complete the applications on behalf of the Narragansett Indians and the Wampanoag Tribe of Gay Head, on Martha's Vineyard. The Navy, in a July 21 letter to Inidian Affairs, moved the deadline to Aug. 10.

Naval Station Newport is looking to dispose of about 260 acres in Newport, Portsmouth and Middletown, including many parcels on Narragansett Bay or with views of the water.
The Navy is requiring that it receive fair market value for the Rhode Island properties -- many of which have some degree of contamination -- and that any federal agency that seeks to acquire them accept them in as-is condition.

Indian Affairs is seeking an exception to the fair-market-value requirement and has requested an appraisal of the value of the properties and an environmental assessment of them.

The Navy, in its correspondence to Indian Affairs, said it had no appraisals to provide but would send an environmental report on the property once it is completed.

Newport, Portsmouth and Middletown have long envisioned reusing the land for recreation, intermodal transportation, economic development and renewable energy projects. This is the third time the Navy has extended the deadline for the tribes, delaying advertisement of the properties to the public.

 Tags  Narragansett Indians Navy Newport Wampanoag Tribe

Comments

Kate said:

Has the Aquidneck Land Trust shown any interest in this transfer of land? Giving the Trust these acres would prevent this water front property from being over developed, polluted, then left as a brown space. It might even allow for this space to be kept open to the public. It does not sound as though the tribes have such goals in mind.

Link | July 23, 2009 4:11 PM
Report Abuse

---

Leave a comment

Please be civil. Vicious comments, personal attacks and profanity won't be published. Name and email are required; email address will not publish.

Name:

Email:

URL:  

Remember personal info?

Captcha:

Type the characters you see in the picture above.