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Oceana, Virginia Beach Strike Multimillion Dollar Deal

Navy NewsStand

Story Number: NNS090612-08
Release Date: 6/12/2009 3:28:00 PM

By Kelley Stirling, Naval Air Station Oceana Public Affairs

VIRGINIA BEACH, Va. (NNS) -- The mayor of Virginia Beach visited Naval Air Station (NAS) Oceana June 3 to accept a check from the Navy for $2.7 million.

Capt. Mark Rich, commanding officer of Oceana, and Mayor Will Sessoms signed a document allowing the Navy to restrict development on property the city owns. During the last two years, Virginia Beach purchased about 212 acres that lies between Oceana and Naval Auxiliary Landing Field Fentress for about $8 million. As part of a partnering effort between the city and Oceana, the Navy is paying a total of $3.7 million for restrictive easements on that property. The deal on June 3 was for restrictive easement on the first 150 acres at $2.7 million. The rest of the agreement will be signed later this summer.

"An outstanding amount of work went into this from both the city and Oceana staffs," said Rich. "We are doing great things out here to preserve the operational viability of Oceana as a master jet base."

These restrictive easements will prevent development which is incompatible with the operation and mission of the master jet base located in Virginia Beach.

This deal was the result of a multi-year agreement between the city of Virginia Beach and NAS Oceana in order to identify and purchase certain properties in the vicinity of Oceana and Fentress with the objective of preventing encroachment.

"It's obvious that Oceana and the city are great partners," said Sessoms. "Virginia Beach is committed to making sure Oceana is here forever."

The Navy has obligated about $5.6 million toward encroachment partnering in Virginia Beach and another $750,000 in the city of Chesapeake, which is where Fentress is located. This money comes from the Department of Defense through the Readiness and Environmental Protection Initiative and by Navy and Marine Corps appropriations for planning and encroachment management. Since 2007, Oceana has received nearly a quarter of all these encroachment partnering funds given to Navy installations.

For more news from Naval Air Station Oceana, visit www.navy.mil/local/oceana.