Marine Corps Logistics Base-Albany expecting more ‘typical’ year

MCLB-ALBANY — Compared to 2017, this year may seem like more of a typical year at Marine Corps Logistics Base-Albany in terms of renovation and development at the base, with a focus on making sure tax dollars are spent wisely.

Last year, the base began taking on the task of addressing the roughly $100 million in damage done to MCLB-Albany when it was directly hit by a tornado — one that strengthened into an EF-3 while aboard the installation — on Jan. 22. Even now, there is still at least $8 million in repair projects left to do.

“We are finishing up still on some of our tornado repair,” said Fred Broome, director of the MCLB Installation and Environment Division.

Broome said the base is on track to get a $43 million warehouse measuring 200,000 square feet. It will replace a building destroyed by the tornado and the contract is expected to be awarded in the next year. There also is $3 million planned to be invested in a combat vehicle storage lot.

There is a modernization planned for MCLB’s waste treatment plant at a cost of $4 million. At the same time, the ongoing partnership with Constellation Energy will achieve the base’s “Net Zero” goal this year, largely through the Procter & Gamble biomass project, anticipated to be online for the base by December.

“We will be producing all of our energy needs,” Broome said.

As part of a goal established by Marine Corps Commandant Gen. Robert Neller, the base will also “reduce and optimize infrastructure footprint by consolidation, implementing space management to maximize utilization, and eliminating excess and failing facilities.”

The directive involves the planned consolidation and divestiture placing first priority on vacating and demolishing excess failing facilities by fiscal year 2022. Plans are expected to be developed to complete the divestiture of remaining underutilized facilities by the end of FY 2027, including consolidation to “enhance force protection and improve support of total force requirements aboard installations.”

Broome said, for the base, this will mean the demolition of 120,000 square feet of space by FY 2022.

“We are not pushing any missions away from Albany,” said Navy Lt. Cmdr. Jason Boatright, the public works officer at MCLB.

The installation has recently signed agreements with Albany and Dougherty County officials so that those in the outside community can offer services — including water line repair, solid waste, water testing, canal maintenance, street sweeping, gas line repair and mosquito control — without MCLB using its own resources so base personnel can focus on their mission of supporting Marines.

Some of these services have previously been accomplished through a contractor, which MCLB officials said is often much more expensive than using the resources the city and county already have at a pre-established rate.

“The federal government is saving money, but we are paying for the personnel (being expended),” Boatright said.

Broome said there were recently hundreds of trees planted in forested areas blown down by the tornado. In other recent work, progress is continuing on the ground source heat pump operations at the installation.

Ground source heat pumps with borehole thermal energy storage, or BTES, use the earth to store energy and transfer the heat or cold from the ground to air conditioning systems with 6-inch piping going down 200 feet. The system is designed to reduce the operational cost of heating or cooling by 30 percent, and it is a renewable energy source.

A ribbon-cutting on a BTES was held in 2015 that covers the Marine Corps Logistics Command headquarters building. Now, there are three separate units for seven different facilities expected to be BTES-operational early next year at a cost of $7.3 million.

Once that is done, the progress on energy efficiency will still continue.

“When we get done with that, that is not the end of the road,” Boatright said.

Jennifer Parks