<body><div><figure><img src="https://img.particlenews.com/image.php?type=thumbnail_580x000&amp;url=3AqwkI_0vknkdB800" alt="https://img.particlenews.com/image.php?url=3AqwkI_0vknkdB800" width="1908" height="1346" ><figcaption>Conceptual renderings offer a look at a proposed redesign of the U.S. Navy’s campus on Aquidneck Island. In addition to desiring a new “Newport Naval History and Education Center” outside the gates, the Navy is also considering a new “Future Warfighting Center” within the existing campus. (Image courtesy Brent D. Glass &amp; Associates)</figcaption></figure>The Newport City Council re­cently questioned Mayor Xay Khamsyvoravong over his inclu­sion in a “leaked” report from the U.S. Navy detailing the possibility of locating a new “Newport Naval History and Education Center” at the former Navy Hospital property. The city has been in closed-door talks with the Navy over the past decade to take ownership of the heavily contaminated, 10-acre, va­cant site. The council met in execu­tive session to discuss the property as recently as last October. The property’s status and title are a sig­nificant factor as the city works to develop the North End.But with a majority of the council being unaware of the report, which was posted to internal Navy servers in July, and the project cost an estimated $96 million, councilor Angela Lima authored a resolution requesting that the Navy explain the genesis of the report and a “full accounting” of project impacts on development under the city’s North End Urban Plan. The resolu­tion passed in a 5-2 vote at a Sept. 11 council meeting, with Kham­syvoravong one of the dissenters. Lima said she received the report from a constituent and seeing Khamsyvoravong’s name on a list of 58 representatives of various community organizations included in the report “felt like an endorsement” of the potential project. She implied Khamsyvora­vong was overstepping as mayor. “We have a city manager form of government, not a mayoral form of government,” she said. “I’m just asking, ‘What’s going on? Who’s driving the ship?’” Councilor Jeanne-Marie Napol­itano, who serves as the council’s liaison to the Navy, said she was unaware of the report and was “speechless” upon seeing it. Khamsyvoravong said he did not support the development of the Navy Hospital property “at any time in any of his conversations” with the Navy, and that the Navy did not mention the former hos­pital property. The report names a 7.7-acre site at Cloyne Court or “one of the Pell Bridge Realignment par­cels” as other possible locations for the new facility. “What the Navy indicated is that they were trying to explore the feasibility of moving the [Naval War College] museum outside the wire,” he said. “The Navy has ex­tensive properties they maintain control over that are not the Navy Hospital property. They made that explicitly clear throughout the conversations that I had with them.” Khamsyvoravong said that feasi­bility studies, such as the report in question, are typically conducted to assess if the project is consistent with the plans and vision of the city and that he has not received a copy of the report. The 62-page report is titled “Project 150 – Building Capacity, Fulfilling the Vision,” and was pre­pared by a consultant. It details the Navy’s desire to expand its out­reach beyond its existing campus on Aquidneck Island and assesses the feasibility of building an “edu­cational and cultural complex out­side the gates for an International Forum, archives and museum,” as well as a new “Future Warfighting Center” inside the gates. If built according to plan, the Newport Naval History and Edu­cation Center would be publicly accessible, a “modern archival fa­cility to serve scholars, educators and students” and would include an 800-seat auditorium for lec­tures, conferences, graduations and ceremonies. The facility would support Naval Station Newport and could be available for perfor­mances and public programs. According to the report, “It is understood that the city will take ownership of the Navy Hospital property,” though it later mentions that the status of the property’s transfer from the Navy to the city is “still being determined.” “However, there may be an op­portunity for the Navy to work with the city of Newport as it advances North End development plans by leveraging private investment and taking advantage of federal and state tax incentives,” the report reads. City manager Colin Kennedy said the document was “inadvertently leaked” and was never intended to be in the city’s possession. He received a Sept. 10 letter from Rear Adm. Darryl Walker, Naval War College president, saying that the Navy “appreciated” the council’s attention to the matter but that discussion is premature and the report is the beginning of a years- long project that is still being worked on internally. Kennedy, a former Navy officer, said he is not in talks with the Navy, though he is “hoping and expecting” it will reach out to the city on the topic. Council Vice Chair Lynn Ceglie said Khamsyvoravong’s partici­pation felt like a representation of the official position of the city. Councilor Charles Holder said he was surprised by the report, but he does not think anything nefarious happened. Khamsyvoravong is the sole name representing the city in the report’s list of 58 interviewees about the project, which includes Discover Newport, the city’s Bridge Realignment Property Advisory Commission, the Greater Newport Chamber of Commerce and the Preservation Society of Newport County. About three acres of the Navy Hospital property’s 10 acres are submerged, and the site is prone to flooding. The complex includes the former main hospital, a three-story, brick building of approximately 150,000 square feet. The hospital was built in 1913 and expanded in 1918 and 1938. It served as an in-patient hospital until 1997. The property also includes two administrative facilities totaling 38,000 square feet. The site is heavily contaminated with lead and other toxic materials that will require remediation, according to the report. Khamsyvoravong said it would be “absurd” to expect that any conversation a councilor has about potential development would be shared with the rest of the council on a constant basis. Councilor Mark Aramli, the other dissenting vote against Lima’s resolution, agreed and said Lima had accomplished her goal by going public with the document. The report recommends further consultation to evaluate size and location and identify a potential public/private partnership to manage the facility. It also men­tions that the next phase of master planning will include the city and state. “The city needs to be a part of the development of the North End,” Lima said. “We started that with the generation of the North End Urban Plan, as well as the zoning code. This is near and dear to me. There were a bunch of res­idents who came to fight at City Hall for equitable development. It should absolutely be our busi­ness.” </div></body>

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City Council Questions Mayor Over ‘Leaked’ Navy Document

The Newport City Council recently questioned Mayor Xay Khamsyvoravong over his inclusion in a “leaked” report from the U.S. Navy detailing the possibility of locating a new “Newport Naval History and Education Center” at the former Navy Hospital property. The city has been in closed-door talks...