By Joseph Cyr
Staff Writer
When Maine voters head to the polls Nov. 5, they will be faced with five bond questions seeking permission for the state to borrow about of $182 million for various projects.
Question 1 asks voters, “Do you favor a $14,000,000 bond issue to provide funds for the state’s share of maintenance, repair, capital improvements, modernization and energy efficiency projects for Maine Army National Guard readiness centers and support facilities and the purchase of land for training and to draw down federal matching funds?”
According to the Secretary of State’s Guide to the Referendum Election, Question 1 would provide maintenance and improvement of the state armories and the purchase of land for Maine ANG training.
If approved the bond would provide funds for the state’s share of maintenance, repair, capital improvement, modernization and energy efficiency projects for Maine Army National Guard readiness centers and support facilities totaling $11 million.
The $11 million would cover the state’s share of costs for maintenance and repair projects, capital improvements, and modernization and energy efficiency improvement projects at readiness centers (armories) and support facilities across the state. These funds are expected to leverage up to $14,000,000 in federal funds in fiscal years 2015-19.
The bond would also provide funds for the purchase of up to 6,000 acres of land to be used by the Maine guard for training purposes and for facilities related to training purposes to allow a transition from a strategic reserve to an operational force. The total amount of money spent for purchasing this land is $3 million.
Federal funds cannot be used to acquire land for training, but federal funds may be used for operation and maintenance costs after acquisition, according to the Secretary of State’s website.
The bond would run for a period not longer than 10 years from the date of issue and would be backed by the full faith and credit of the state.
Naturally, the Maine guard supports Question 1. According to information posted on the Guard’s website (www.me.ngb.army.mil/), dated Oct. 21, the bond would provide $11 million for National Guard Readiness Centers and support facilities for state responsibility of maintenance, repair, capital improvement, and modernization projects leveraging up to $14 million in federal matching funds from FY15 through FY19.
It includes three parts:
• $2 million in state share for National Guard Readiness Center maintenance and repair projects.
• $6 million in state share for National Guard Readiness Center capital repairs.
• $3 million in state share for Air and Army National Guard Readiness Center modernization and energy-savings projects.
“Bond approval brings much needed facility upgrades which contribute to our readiness,” the Guard’s website states. “This makes us ready to respond when called. Significant reduction in utility costs due to increases in building energy efficiency. For example, the Houlton Armory has a 1957 vintage steam heating system. It cost over $60,000 last year for the oil to heat this facility. With an energy efficient heating system, it would have cost under $20,000 to heat with oil.”
A ready and capable National Guard is essential to the state’s emergency response. The armories are the center training, and also serve as staging platforms and community centers during state emergencies and adequate life safety for soldiers and community members using the facilities through improved building indoor air quality that meets current standards.
As part of the improvements, armories would receive modern upgrades designed to increase soldier/airman safety — such as fire alarms, sprinklers and electrical improvements — and the quality of training programs.
According to the National Guard, “many of the buildings were constructed in the 1950s, and are not configured to accommodate today’s Guard force which includes female soldiers as well as soldiers and community users requiring ADA accommodations. Additionally, state funding shortfalls (since the 1990s) have resulted in accelerated aging due to lack of preventative maintenance.”
Most of the buildings do not have fire alarm systems, fire suppression systems and do not meet electrical code requirements.
The training facility is cited as a necessity, even though there are similar facilities in Vermont and Massachusetts.
“The training sites in Vermont and Massachusetts are not adequate for all of our units,” the Maine Guard site states. “Each unit has specific training requirements that need to be met. We often send our units to train in many other states to get realistic training. Traveling out of state takes up much of the time available on a drill weekend, which impacts the quality and quantity of critical training requirements. From an economic perspective, the Guard costs one-third that of the Active Army and has the capability to support dual missions (federal and state). Investment in infrastructure for the Guard makes sense economically and militarily.”
The National Guard has sold five armories around the state to help with funding issues. Further sales would impact the Guard’s ability to adequately prepare for both state and federal missions, the site states.
No public comments have been filed either in support of or in opposition to Question 1.
