Ruthsburg and Centreville residents question officials about the proposed Foreign Affairs Security Training Center during a workshop Tuesday evening, Feb. 10, 2010. Pictured from left are Bob Waterman, Business Queen Ann\'s; Rob Babbitt, moderator, Queen Anne\'s County Democratic Club; Jay Falstad, Queen Anne's Conservation Association. Ruthsburg and Centreville residents question officials about the proposed Foreign Affairs Security Training Center during a workshop Tuesday evening. Ed Walls voices his concerns. From left, Queen Anne\'s County residents Clay Mitchell, Temple Rhodes and Jack Broderick discuss the issues outside the workshop areas on the proposed Foreign Affairs Security Training Center, at Queen Anne\'s County High School Tuesday evening. Adjacent landowner Mark Potter speaks out. Royce Herman, center, treasurer of the Maryland Horse Council and Director of the Tuckahoe Equestrian Center, talks to other concerned citizens such as Katherine DiMaggio, left. Queen Anne's County resident Rich Walbert, from right, tries to get some answers about how often bombs will be exploding at the proposed facility from officials Adam Deluca and Julie Fisher Tuesday evening. Margaret French of Stevensville recounts her experiences living near other foreign operative training centers. Read her Letter to the Editor: Having lived 40 miles from a training site in California, similar to the proposed Ruthsburg site, where 3-pound bombs were used, I can personally attest to the terrible effects of these loud explosions frightening house shaking.  read entire letter Queen Anne's County residents cheer for Margo French. Bonnie Roschy points out the location of her house on Greenville Road which is only about 1,000 feet from the proposed Foreign Affairs Security Training Center. Ruthsburg resident Ed Gent tells officials, "You guys are not coming into my town without a fight". Ruthsburg property owner John Roschy, from left, talks to Centreville resident Richard Smith, Clerk of the Queen Anne's County Circuit Court Scott MacGlashian and Rachel Carter Goss during the workshop portion on the proposed Foreign Affairs Security Training Center Tuesday evening. Adkins Arboretum Executive Director Ellie Altman, right, speaks with AECOM official Stephanie Dyer-Carroll during the Natural Resources workshop Tuesday evening, on the proposed Foreign Affairs Security Training Center. Dina Harrison, a receptionist at Queen Anne's County High School, examines plans for the new Foreign Affairs Security Training Center that will be near her home in Jarman Branch Estates. After a brief presentation, citizens voice their concerns in the auditorium of Queen Anne's County High School Tuesday evening. Adjacent property owner John Roschy makes his position clear on the proposed Foreign Affairs Security Training Center Tuesday evening, Feb. 13, 2010 at Queen Anne's County High School. Centreville resident Sveinn Storm speaks out against the foreign operatives training center. He has produced a DVD investigating a similar facility in Playas, Mexico. Watch the DVD here (4 parts). Sandra Hendrix of Centreville, and her children Michael and Mary Jo (hidden), pick up information on the Foreign Affairs Security Training Center during the workshop at Queen Anne\'s County High School Tuesday evening, Feb. 10. Bob Simmons of Centreville speaks out against the facility. Adjacent property owner John Roschy, center right, confronts Alan Tabachnick, left, of AECOM while Queen Anne\'s County Fair Chairman Tom Gannon, center left, listens during a workshop on the proposed Foreign Affairs Security Training Center Tuesday evening.

CENTREVILLE Hundreds of people packed classrooms and voiced concerns at a much-anticipated public forum on the Foreign Affairs Security Training Center (FASTC) Tuesday night at Queen Anne's County High School.

After two often-contentious meetings last month, the public forum on the proposed training site in Ruthsburg was more civil and informational but not without passionate comments from those in opposition to the facility, particularly at the question-and-answer portion of the forum.

A slew of government officials and hired consultants held workshops in a number of classrooms, answering questions with individuals and small groups. Information at the workshops centered on common concerns voiced in the past by community members, including worries about increased noise, what would and would not happen at the site and potential economic impacts. Christopher Peoples, a lead architect with the firm KCCT, noted the several changes made to the site as a result of public comments and concerns. In a revised layout of the facility, one explosive range has been eliminated and another moved to a more interior portion of the facility to reduce noise. He noted that they have also moved the main campus of administrative buildings away from Ruthsburg and relocated the main entrance from Route 481 to Route 304 to reduce traffic.

Peoples also sought to clarify what the outdoor shooting range would look like. He said that calling it "outdoor" is almost a misnomer the building will be fully baffled (which means that rounds cannot escape), and Peoples presented a picture of a concrete and steel building with a ventilated roof, with vents pointing in the opposite direction of the firing.

"There's no live firing out in the open," Peoples said, adding that only paintball guns or air rifles would be used in the open. "All live fire is done in a contained environment."

On the issue of jobs coming to the area, Ellyn Goldkind, a project manager for the site, explained that the government will hire people for "a gamut of jobs," running the range from food service positions to higher-paying budget analyst positions. She said jobs would be given to the most qualified applicants, with no preference given if someone lives in the area.

For the construction phase of the project, Goldkind explained that the federal government will select a general contractor, and then that general contractor would be responsible for hiring subcontractors. She added that government officials will provide networking opportunities for subcontractors and local businesses looking to work on the project.

On the issue of noise, Adam Bodner, director of the Office of Real Property Management at the State Department, said that numerous strategies were being looked at to mitigate concerns. For explosive ranges, these strategies included placing earthen berms and vegetation around the range as well as setting the range in a 5-foot deep hole.

As noise would still be a factor, officials at the workshop provided estimates of what community members could expect regarding noise levels. From Queen Anne's County High School, officials said the 3-pound explosions would measure between 69 to 79 decibels (comparable to an alarm clock or a vacuum cleaner), and the half-pound explosions would measure 50 to 60 decibels (comparable to normal conversation level).

Beyond specifics about the facility's affects on the community, officials provided more information about why the site was necessary. Chris DiZebba, deputy project manager for the State Department's Bureau of Diplomatic Security, said the facility will partially consolidate training that is done at facilities rented by the department because the department has to pay other organizations to use their facilities, the FASTC will be much more cost effective.

DiZebba also touched on the types of training that would not be done at the site. He emphasized that the use of chemical or biological weapons, weapons over .50 caliber, explosions larger than 3 pounds and helicopters would not be used.

"There will be no helicopter training at this site," DiZebba said. "There is no helicopter pad. It is not envisioned that that will ever be something that we would do here because, quite frankly, the site is not equipped for it."

But even with the new and updated information provided by officials, many attendees felt that they were not getting straight answers, that questions had not been answered or both. Melanie Walbert of Centreville said that she heard "a lot of open sentences and lawyer talk" from officials and that response "left a lot of wiggle room."

Rich Walbert, Melanie's husband, expressed frustration about being sent from room to room to receive answers to his questions as well as officials being unable to answer questions with greater specificity, including when the 3-pound explosions would occur. In general, he was concerned if the government would follow through on what they've said will happen.

"I get real suspicious when the government says 'this is what we're going to do," Walbert said.

This issue of trust was a common theme among speakers at the forum's question-and-answer session, with many voicing concern about how community grievances would be addressed if the site is built. Other speakers voiced concerns about how the site would affect quality of life and property values in the area, the prospect of jobs for residents and the general need to build the facility at all. Officials admitted that many questions could not be answered until the draft environmental assessment was released in late March or early April.

A majority of questions came from Ruthsburg residents and others who had spoken out against the project before at Queen Anne's County Commission meetings or at the other public forums. Many became passionate about their opposition to the site, promising to the fight the project tooth and nail, which often brought shouts and applause from portions of the audience.

In a sentiment echoed by many speakers, John Root asked, "When will you go away?"

In response to one such question, Chuck Raderstorf, project director for the FASTC for the State Department's Bureau of Diplomatic Security, emphasized the government's eagerness to be good neighbors and the hope that people would continue to share their concerns so that officials can improve the site.

"We're going to do the best we can to try and design and develop and build a facility that we think will work for us and will also work for you," Raderstorf said. "Director (Jeffrey) Culver has stood up and said operationally, we will do everything we can to try and make this palatable. We have an obligation to try and provide the best training we can for these individuals going overseas – I don't think you'd dispute that. I understand that you don't necessarily want it in your backyard."

In response, several in the crowd shouted back.

"We don't want it," said one. "We're not willing to work with you," said another.

Officials also noted that the deadline for public comments had been extended until March 12, and that officials are accepting invitations to speak with groups about the project.

SOURCE: | The Washington Post - February 23, 2010