Public Meeting Questions and Answers
What is the format?
- From about 2:00-2:30 p.m. on Saturday, November 14, 2009, the ANG plans to have a room setup with information booths, and will provide an informal opportunity to ask questions.
The public hearing will begin promptly at 2:30 p.m. and last until 6:00 p.m., but if necessary, it will continue until all comments have been received. To ensure that all interested citizens have an opportunity to speak, comments will be limited to 10 minutes per person. The public hearing will begin with a short opening statement from Brig. Gen. Scott Rice, and then Judge Helget will preside. The purpose of the public hearing is to provide interested citizens with an opportunity to comment on the findings of the draft Environmental Impact Statement (EIS). More importantly, the public hearing is a formal opportunity to get interested citizens involved in the National Environmental Policy Act (NEPA) process. The proceedings will be transcribed under the format response.
The purpose of the public hearing is not to debate or to vote on this proposed action. Only brief clarifications to questions will be provided during the hearing. If interested citizens would like to discuss the findings of the draft environmental impact statement in greater detail, they may do so with the staff from the 104th Fighter Wing, National Guard Bureau, and with contractor technical representatives at the conclusion of the hearing.
If interested citizens do not wish to provide oral comments, written comments will be accepted and will be given equal consideration. The ANG will have comment sheets available for handout. For those making an oral statement, it would be very helpful if interested citizens would also provide a written statement to reaffirm the comments they made and any additional comments they would like to make.
Substantive comments will be addressed and included in the final Environmental Impact Statement.
Who will moderate the hearing?
- The Honorable Judge Tomas Helget (Military Appellate Trial Judge from Bolling Air Force Base, District of Columbia).
Will anyone from the Federal Aviation Administration (FAA) attend the hearing?
Why is the hearing on a Saturday?
- The only days the Lincoln Auditorium at the University of Maine at Farmington is available, from now until Thanksgiving, were either a Monday, a Friday, or during the weekend. ANG felt that a Saturday would be the best option, since many people would have the day off from work, which would afford the maximum number of people the opportunity to attend the public hearing.
This page last updated on
8/13/10
