Navy may not give Concord Naval Weapons Station to city

By Tanya Rose
CONTRA COSTA TIMES
Tuesday, November 14, 2006

CONCORD - Concord officials learned today that the U.S. Navy, which had promised to deed the 5,100-acre Concord Naval Weapons Station to the city, is considering selling the entire chunk of land to Shaw Environmental, a company that does construction for the U.S. Navy, including projects at the weapons station.

"The Department of the Navy received an unsolicited proposal from an entity interested in acquiring the inland area of the former Naval Weapons Station . . . in exchange for . . . construction services," according to a letter from the Navy to the city.

The Concord City Council plans to discuss the letter and its implications at tonight's council meeting. The council will meet at 6:30 p.m., 1950 Parkside Drive.

The letter was hand-delivered to Concord City Manager Lydia Du Borg by members of Wayne Arny's office -- he serves as deputy assistant secretary of installations and facilities for the Department of the Navy.

The letter came as a surprise to city officials, who noted that the same Navy staff members, plus Arny, had weeks earlier embraced the city's planning process.

"We have grave concerns about this because it opens up an entirely new realm of possibilities that are outside of the process we have followed in good faith," said Concord Mayor Susan Bonilla.

The city, named the ruling authority over future uses at the base by the Department of Defense months ago, began a planning process that included public outreach and creating a citizens advisory committee.

"We believe that process offers protections and assurances to the city and our concern is that this kind of deal with circumvent that process," she said.