McKernan wants more say in future of Pease AFB

AUGUSTA — New Hampshire’s governor Wednesday brushed off a suggestion by his Maine counterpart that Maine get more of a voice in deciding the future of Pease Air Force Base, which is due to close in January 1991.

“Although we will certainly keep Maine and other interested parties informed of our actions, it is inappropriate for the state of Maine to have any formal role in what is a New Hampshire issue,” Gov. Judd Gregg said in a prepared statement. His spokesman, Brian Grip, declined to elaborate.

The statement was released as Gov. John R. McKernan awaited formal responses from members of Maine’s congressional delegation to his July 9 letter suggesting the creation of a regional authority to own and manage Pease and oversee activities within the Piscataqua River basin.

The panel would have representation from both Maine and New Hampshire, and perhaps Massachusetts, McKernan suggests in his letter.

Rep. Olympia J. Snowe, R-Maine, believes McKernan “raises an excellent point that the states have to work in harmony on this,” said Snowe spokesman Don Nathan.

The New Hampshire Legislature has created a Pease Development Authority to guide the N.H. air base’s future after the military leaves, but McKernan says Maine’s interests are not represented.

The authority’s seven-member board of directors is chosen by municipal leaders in Portsmouth and Newington, the New Hampshire governor, Senate president and House speaker.

Sen. Gordon Humphrey, R-N.H., and New Hampshire Senate President William Bartlett on Wednesday rejected suggestions that Maine get a formal say in the base’s future.

“Tell them I think they should take care of their problems in Maine and we’ll take care of our New Hampshire problems,” Bartlett said.

Humphrey said McKernan’s concerns, if they are valid, should be addressed first to the Pease commission.

“Presumably, they can be handled there without creating yet another superstructure which will only … slow things down. We can’t afford further delay,” said Humphrey.

“Pease is closing next year and that means we have to work as expeditiously as we can to transform that facility into a civilian asset that will begin to replace the lost revenue, and that’s going to take a couple of years,” said Humphrey.

In a letter to the four delegation members from Maine, McKernan said many people in the state are frustrated by Maine’s inability to express its interests in the future use of the base.

He said York, Kittery, Eliot and South Berwick are among the southern Maine communities that will be affected by loss of military payroll, relocation of Pease’s flight paths, environmental changes and new demands on public services from Pease workers who move to Maine.

A spokeswoman for Sen. William S. Cohen, R-Maine, said Wednesday that the senator wants the issues raised by York County residents to be fully addressed.

Press secretary Kathy Gest said Cohen would be in contact with Gregg and New Hampshire’s two Republican senators to ensure that the residents receive a hearing on their concerns.

Maine’s role so far has been limited to monitoring public meetings of the Pease authority and participating in a series of public meetings with York County residents, said the letter.

“We’re invited to the picnic, but it’s hands off the food,” McKernan spokesman Willis Lyford said.

Maine Deputy Transportation Commissioner Russell Spinney, who is familiar with the details of the base’s planned closing, said that creation of such an authority would probably require federal legislation.

The law creating the Pease authority directed the board to adopt — with at least five favorable votes — land-use controls consistent with Portsmouth’s and Newington’s master plans. Control of the base land, except for the airport section and wildlife preserve, will revert to the municipalities by 2020. The authority must develop its land-use controls by Dec. 31, 1991.

New Hampshire state Rep. Leo Fraser, R-Pittsfield, said the Commerce, Small Business and Consumer Affairs Committee of which he is chairman held 47 days of hearings on the bill that created the Pease board.

“This is the first inkling I had of anybody or any state outside the state of New Hampshire with even the slightest bit of interest,” Fraser said.

“Any effort by any of our sister states to interject their influence over the process, I think, would be inherently wrong,” he added.