Comments on border patrol sites invited

VAN BUREN – The U.S. Army Corps of Engineers is accepting public comment on two U.S. Border Patrol stations the federal agency wants to build at Van Buren and Jackman.

The projects are part of a U.S. Department of Homeland Security plan to replace outdated facilities at the two locations near the United States-Canada border.

Facilities at the two sites, built in the 1960s, have been outgrown. Each site has room for four agents. With increased border security since Sept. 11, 2001, more agents are working at the two sites.

The older sites also are more difficult to rewire for modern technology systems.

The new buildings should be available for occupancy by Jan. 1, 2005. Construction is expected to begin in the spring of 2004.

“We’ve been working on these two projects about one year,” Sue Holtham of the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers Environmental Resources section said Thursday afternoon. “They may have been on wish lists before, but [the] September 11, 2001 [terrorist attacks] increased the need for larger and more modern facilities.

“The present facilities have room for three or four people and the numbers of people at each site have grown,” she said. “The new stations will be much larger and accommodate more staff and equipment.”

Holtham said nine people work at the Jackman facility and seven work at the Van Buren site.

The proposed construction projects will go out to bid through normal corps procedures, she said when asked whether the projects would be built by local Maine contractors.

At Van Buren, the facility would replace an existing station, allowing more room to accommodate increased staffing levels. Three sites are under consideration in Van Buren and Cyr Plantation.

One site is the former land of the Van Buren Drive-In Theater on the south side of Route 1A, about 300 yards south of the intersection with Route 1. That is about a quarter-mile north of the present station in Hamlin.

The second site is an agricultural field on the west side of Route 1 at the intersection of Laplante Road. The site is in Cyr Plantation, half a mile south of Van Buren.

The third site is an open field on the south side of Marquis Road, near the intersection with Lake Road in Van Buren. The site is half a mile from the business section of town.

An environmental review has yet to be prepared. At Jackman, the corps proposes a new station on State Route 6-15, about two miles east of the intersection of U.S. Route 205 and Route 6-15.

The 10-acre site would allow for future expansion. Plans are to build a 10,800-square-foot building. Future options at the site include a 10,000-square-foot impound lot, and anoth%er 11,400 square feet for a vehicle sally port, equipment repair shop, vehicle storage, maintenance area and an anti-smuggling unit area.

There also is room for a 16,000-square-foot helicopter landing zone and an indoor firing range. The area would be fenced in.

The Department of Homeland Security has prepared a draft environmental assessment of the project, and no adverse effects on federal or state threatened or endangered species have been found. There also are no cultural impacts involved in the project.

The draft assessment is available for viewing at the Jackman Town Library. Public comment on both projects is open until Oct. 29.

Comments on the Jackman project should be sent to Susan Holtham, U.S. Army Corps of Engineers, New England District, 696 Virginia Road, Concord, Mass. 01742, or on the Web at susan.e.holtham@usace.army.mil.

Comments on the Van Buren proposal should be sent to U.S. Army Corps of Engineers, New England district, Attention: Engineering/Planning Division, 696, Virginia Road, Concord, Mass. 01742.