Local News

While two camps arm for battle over McClellan, their leaders are united on at least one front.

During the six weeks since a judge handed McClellan over to Calhoun County, city and county officials all have said that development of the former Army post is critical to Calhoun County's future and should continue without delay.

But that might not be possible anymore. Cleanup money vital to McClellan's success is in limbo, delaying the creation of a board to handle property sales. Without that money, a road meant to bring people and business to McClellan also is endangered.

County leaders say these issues are more important than which political body controls the land — a job they never asked for. Some city leaders agree that the matters must be addressed but think the city ultimately should manage the property.

After Anniston sued to get control of McClellan last week, the fort's future may be decided in the courts. If not, three incoming city leaders could have their way and negotiate a joint McClellan effort with the county.

With two pending McClellan court actions and with the county so far denied access to federal cleanup money, a question mark is hanging over Calhoun County's largest undeveloped property.

The cleanup

When Circuit Judge Joel Laird in August dissolved the McClellan Joint Powers Authority and put Calhoun County in charge, the county's first priority was making sure cleanup continued.

Mortars, grenades and other types of unexploded ordnance litter the grounds at McClellan, left behind when the fort closed and the Army marched out in 1999. Those dangerous mementos must be removed before the property can be reused.

Only about 1,000 acres of McClellan is ready for development. Fences block off between 10,000 and 11,000 acres, waiting for cleanup crews to find and destroy these obstacles to progress.

The JPA secured more than $200 million from the federal government to clean up the unexploded ordnance, but that money is sitting idle, as the Army has not yet agreed to let the county spend it.

Because the agreement was with the defunct JPA, county commissioners after Laird's order immediately began working with the Army to get access to that money so they can pay the contractors still steadily working at McClellan.

Now, six weeks later, the Army still hasn't allowed the county to use the money. Because the Army filled the JPA's bank account in small amounts, the cleanup fund is fast depleting.

"That money is the most vital issue facing McClellan right now," said County Administrator Ken Joiner. "That is our total focus."

Garland Heare, finance director for McClellan, said $700,000 remains in the cleanup account. He said contractors need to be paid about $1.5 million right now, or payments will be late.

The county needs about $20 million in cleanup money to make it to the end of the year, Heare said.

U.S. Rep. Mike Rogers, R-Saks, said he spoke last week with Army officials, who assured him they would work with both the city and county to make sure there is no break in payments to the McClellan cleanup project.

Rogers said he was told that while the city and county figure out who ultimately will control McClellan, the Army would set up an interim agreement to give the money to both parties.

But that hasn't been done yet.

"I feel very comfortable about it," Rogers said. "I'll feel better when I see a written document signed by all three parties."

Attorney David Knisely, who is working with the Army for the county, told officials at a meeting in September that the Army sometimes takes a while on deals like this. He said Army officials wanted to be comfortable before handing over $200 million to a new agency.

Reaching that comfort level likely got a little more difficult after the city of Anniston sued last week to gain control of McClellan, said Harry Kelso, a Virginia-based consultant who has worked on base closings.

The lawsuit not only asks for control, but that the Army stop all cleanup money talks with the county.

"People have to put themselves in the shoes of the Army and think about if you were them, would you be handing out money right now?" Kelso said. "It would not be surprising if they back away and say, 'We'll just wait until you all work it out.'"

Anniston attorney Gene Rutledge also sent out two letters last week trying to stop the county from accessing the money.

One went to Department of Defense official Patrick O'Brien and asks him to stop talks with the county about the cleanup money. The other went to Knisely and warns him that the city may "take action" if he does not stop working on the cleanup fund agreement.

Joiner said he hopes the City Council will stop trying to affect the cleanup money.

"I can't believe that any public official who takes an oath to do what's in the best interest of the constituents they represent would ever do anything that would hurt their community," he said.

The county will continue trying to reach a deal with the Army, he said.

"A lawsuit is a sensitive issue with the Army and the Department of Defense," Joiner said. "We're doing everything we can to try to calm the issue and assure the Army that there are calm heads here and that our contractors need to be paid."

Officials agree that the direct result of the county not getting the money — and soon — is contractors moving on to other jobs.

At a meeting last month, Matrix Environmental Services official Steve Young told the county that cleanup contractors were at that time comfortable with the situation and would stay on at McClellan. Matrix oversees the McClellan cleanup.

But like any other business, he said, they won't work for free and could walk if invoices go unpaid.

Young also said experienced cleanup crews could be difficult to replace if they leave. He said there are other sites that need crews, and many are working in Iraq.

Base closure expert Kelso agrees.

"You don't find people with unexploded ordnance clearance expertise just anywhere," he said. "It's a fairly narrow expertise, and there is a pretty small group of companies that do this."

Outgoing Anniston Mayor Chip Howell, who opposed going to the courts to regain control of McClellan, said he knew of other groups with cleanup money committed that haven't been able to find contractors to do the work.

"The worst-case scenario would be that the workers start running for other projects," he said. "There are jobs out there."

Howell, who was integral to the JPA securing the $200 million, said McClellan development starts with the cleanup.

"The land-use plan is based on the cleanup levels," he said. "You see this wonderful map of future use, and the key word there is future."

But some don't have the same gloom-and-doom outlook about contractors leaving. Councilman Ben Little, who is the most vocal backer of the city's lawsuit, said it's vital for the city to get McClellan back.

"There's a way for the cleanup to continue," he said. "If not, it'll just have to stop for a while. I don't think it'll be that big of a deal. Don't think they'll never come back. If they leave, others will come."

Howell countered that Little's comments were coming from someone who had never attended a cleanup meeting and did not "know the playing field."

The road

Skeptics call the Eastern Parkway a "road to nowhere" or "the world's largest cul-de-sac."

Officials planned the parkway as a seven-mile link across McClellan between Interstate 20 near Golden Springs and U.S. 431 north of Anniston.

But standing in the way of that road is the same obstacle that looms over other McClellan development – the unexploded ordnance.

If crews leave and old mortars remain, the unfinished Eastern Parkway will lead drivers to a blocked-off road, rather than to a McClellan entrance. And that's if the Eastern Parkway can even be completed to that point.

If cleanup doesn't continue, the portion of the Eastern Parkway connecting McClellan to Golden Springs may not be finished. And cleanup around the unfunded portion of the parkway, connecting McClellan to Alabama 21, also needs to be completed.

The parkway's current terminus connects with Iron Mountain Road in McClellan.

JPA officials had received a grant and set aside money to widen and update about 3 miles of Iron Mountain Road so the parkway would not be a road to nowhere, but a road into McClellan.

The JPA also was working on a grant application to get about $5 million to build the road all the way to the interchange of Alabama 21 and U.S. 431.

The county is continuing work on that grant, but until the cleanup is done, construction could be stalled.

Before the county got control of McClellan, progress on the roads was fairly certain. The JPA had ordered Matrix to focus its efforts on Iron Mountain Road and the Eastern Parkway. Cleanup there was slated to be done by the end of the year.

Still, funding is needed to finish the Eastern Parkway.

Rogers has said he will request no more federal money because $80 million in federal and state funds already has been allocated. Rogers says the more than $40 million still needed should be found locally.

His Democratic opponent, Josh Segall, has said the Eastern Parkway is "essential to the redevelopment of the fort" and that he would seek federal dollars for the project.

The future

With the city suing to control McClellan, the JPA asking the state Supreme Court to overturn Laird's order, and Calhoun County ordered by the court to manage the property, what happens next is anyone's guess.

But for now, a group of incoming Anniston leaders who do not support the city's lawsuit say when they take office in November they will try to work with the county and move forward.

County officials have said they intend to work with Anniston on McClellan development, even though the lawsuit did cause some hard feelings.

"It ticks me off when we're doing whatever we can to help the city by trying to continue the cleanup for a fort that is within their city limits," said Joiner, who is a defendant in the suit. "And then they turn around and sue you personally. That don't make you real, real happy."

Mayor-elect Gene Robinson and Councilmen-elect John Spain and David Dawson agree that the city should negotiate rather than litigate.

"We believe that our solution is a common-sense approach to McClellan," Robinson said. "We don't think legal action is needed."

Commission Chairman Eli Henderson said it would only be fair for the city and county to have equal numbers of appointments to a new McClellan development board. He said he could see each body having five picks with the governor's office appointing one member.

"But when you go to a lawsuit, there's a chance right there that everything we're all trying to make happen will get undone because of petty political things," he said.

Councilman Little said he will not be pleased until the city has complete control over McClellan.

"Anniston's just been kicked to the side," he said. "That cannot happen. We're in it to fight for our property, and we no longer will be quiet about it, and we're going after it."

In his crusade to take over McClellan, Little says God is on his side.

"If Anniston doesn't get it, Fort McClellan will not go anywhere," he said. "The Lord will not let it happen. It will not prosper."

Base closure expert Kelso said when communities fight about fort development, their common goal of progress is delayed.

"If they're spending all their time fighting over who's on first, no one will ever score a home run," he said. "The game won't be played, and the loser on that will be the community."