Levy funds could protect Offutt AFB

The state would create a mechanism to provide funds to water management projects at military installations under an amendment considered by the Appropriations Committee Feb. 29.

The amendment was proposed by Omaha Sen. Heath Mello, who said it would ensure that the state is able to successfully complete the Missouri River levy certification process. The levy project—which has been mandated by the Federal Emergency Management System—would protect many valuable assets in the Omaha metro area, he said, including Offutt Air Force Base.

Mello noted that the base employs more than 10,000 people and that failure to complete the levy process would jeopardize replacement of the base’s runway and possibly lead to a Base Realignment and Closure Commission hearing on Offutt’s future.

“[The proposed funding] is a very critical investment for the economic security of the state of Nebraska,” Mello said.

The amendment would strike the contents of LB537, originally introduced by Syracuse Sen. Dan Watermeier, which would appropriate $15 million in general funds to the Resources Development Fund.

As amended, the bill instead would create the Military Installation Infrastructure Program, which would be administered by the state Department of Natural Resources. The program would be appropriated $13.7 million in fiscal year 2016-17 to provide grants to a political subdivision where a military installation is located within or contiguous to its boundaries.

Grants would be provided to political subdivisions to assist in the development and improvement of infrastructure related to the management of soil and water resources.

Mello said he intends to offer an additional amendment that would utilize dollars from the state’s cash reserve rather than general funds.

John Winkler, general manager of the Papio-Missouri River Natural Resources District (NRD), testified in support of the proposal. The NRD, the cities of Omaha and Bellevue and Sarpy County have entered into a cost-sharing agreement to each provide an additional $3 million for the levy upgrade project, he said, which is estimated to cost $25 million.

“We are currently in the permitting phase of the levy project,” Winkler said. “We have submitted our plans to the corps of engineers and they are reviewing them.”

If the state fails to bring the existing levies—built in the 1970s and 80s—into compliance with FEMA requirements, Winkler said, the runway at Offutt AFB would be in an area classified as a flood plane. As a result, he said, the U.S. Air Force would not pay to replace the runway and likely would seek to move the 55th Wing to another base.

David Brown of the Greater Omaha Chamber of Commerce also supported the proposal, saying Offutt has an approximately $1.5 billion annual impact on the state’s economy.

While there is no guarantee that the Air Combat Command will elect to replace the base’s runway, they have allocated $7 million to evaluate the project, he said. Nebraska cannot run the risk of the base closing, Brown added.

“It’s a major employer, a major economic driver of our economy,” he said.

No opposition testimony was offered and the committee took no immediate action on the amendment.