NEWPORT, R.I. – The Bureau of Indian Affairs is once again asking Navy officials for an extension in preparing an application on behalf of two Native American tribes hoping to acquire roughly 260 acres of surplus Navy land on Aquidneck Island’s west side.
It is the third such request made by the bureau in the last four months in their capacity representing Rhode Island’s Narragansett Indian Tribe and the Gayhead, Mass. Wampanoag Indian Tribe.
In a letter written to Navy BRAC (Base Realignment and Closure) staff, Jerry L. Gidner, director of the Bureau of Indian Affairs says his agency still needs more time to review an Environmental Condition of Property (ECP) report before its application can be complete.
Exacerbating matters is that last month, the Navy had indicated that such a report had yet to be produced.
But according to the bureau, any completed application would require an ECP.
“Fair market value information for the requested properties is essential to evaluate the costs associated with any necessary environmental remediation,” Gidner wrote. “Accordingly, inasmuch as the required environmental condition documentation is currently unavailable, we respectfully request an extension to complete our application until such a time as the ECP is completed and can be thoroughly reviewed by the Bureau of Indian Affairs.”
Just how long the extension may be, remains to be seen.
Navy officials are currently working on a response to the extension, however past indicators suggest that a decision on whether to grant the request may not come for a couple of weeks.
The request as written by BIA Director Jerry Gidner.
Prior to the tribes’ interest, Newport, Middletown, and Portsmouth had been widely considered to be the leading candidates for to acquire the surplus land.
Together, they had been working for years with the Aquidneck Island Planning Commission to develop a master plan for the area. In Newport, that plan included the redevelopment of the former Navy Hospital property just north of the Newport Bridge.
Representing one of the last remaining undeveloped waterfront parcels in downtown Newport, plans for the property included the public-private marina complex and mixed use condominiums.
It’s still unclear exactly what the tribes’ interest in the property is, although they repeatedly said that casino gaming was not in the cards.
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Newport, RI
