US-Navy

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A deeply divided Alameda City Council may end up walking away from the city’s latest proposal to prepare Alameda Point for development, with some council members saying they think the city should focus on existing tenants and forget about moving forward with new development plans for a few years. The development strategy has been in the works since the council fired former master developer SunCal in July 2010.

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On January 4, 2012, the Alameda Reuse and Redevelopment Authority (ARRAAlameda Reuse and Redevelopment Authority. The City Council acts in this capacity.) and the United States Navy (Navy) entered into a second amendment to the 2000 Economic Development Conveyance Memorandum of Agreement (EDCEconomic Development Conveyance MOA), authorizing a no-cost conveyance of the 918-acre portion of the former Naval Air Station Alameda (NASNaval Air Station Alameda), commonly referred to as Alameda Point. Pursuant to the EDC MOA, it is expected that conveyance of significant portions of the Alameda Point property will occur during 2012.

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California least terns are small and endangered, but they're not afraid of mayhem. After all, they nest on airport runways.

But in Alameda, the brave little birds have brought chaos to a whole new level. No fewer than five public agencies are haggling over the birds and the thriving habitat that has sprung up around them, in a fight that's likely to reshape several hundred acres of the Bay Area's most picturesque real estate.

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The California Least Terns are arriving back at Alameda Point’s wildlife refuge to lay their eggs and raise their young. The volunteers, who help maintain the site, and the US Fish & Wildlife Service (USFWS) biologist responsible for the tern colony, have never left. They carry out maintenance tasks during the non-nesting season – September to early April – as well as help monitor bird behavior during the nesting season.

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Veterans of one of the most legendary American missions during World War II will gather Saturday aboard the USS Hornet aircraft carrier museum in Alameda.

Three men who took part in the Doolittle Raid on Japan will visit the ship to mark the 70th anniversary of the air strike, which gave the nation a much-needed morale boost in the months after Pearl Harbor.

John Doolittle, the son of mission leader Jimmy Doolittle, also will be on hand for the event, as well as at least two sailors who were aboard the USS Hornet (CV-8) when the raid was launched.

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Plans are moving forward on constructing a new Veterans Affairs (VAVeterans Affairs) complex at Alameda Point and creating a management system for the entire wildlife refuge.

But talks between the city and the East Bay Regional Park District came to a standstill over the terms under which the park district would acquire land to develop and manage a 140-acre regional park on the Northwest Territories. The city had wanted to receive seed money from the park district for city sports fields from the deal. The park district withdrew its plans for a regional park for now.

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The city’s commitment to proceed with a less-intensive development plan than the one proposed by former Alameda Point developer SunCal could face a major hurdle: The amount of development now being contemplated for the former Naval Air Station may not pencil out financially.

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A recently released proposal for development at the former Alameda Naval Air
Station (NASNaval Air Station) lays out a plan for permanent protection for the endangered
California Least Terns that nest there while allowing for reasonable development on
lands adjacent to the colony. The proposal revised an older plan to build a large medical
and memorial complex on the runway at the former NAS, which is known locally
as the Alameda Wildlife Refuge.

According to the proposal, the majority of the medical complex and columbarium

Adopt a Resolution Authorizing the City Manager to Negotiate and Execute
a Final Naval Air Station Alameda Exchange Agreement between the City
of Alameda and the State of California , Acting by and through the State
Lands Commission , in Substantial Conformance with the Proposed Naval
Air Station Alameda Exchange Agreement