Base housing to move privatization forward Published Jan. 13, 2011 By Ivonne Bates Contracted Project Manager JOINT BASE ELMENDORF-RICHARDSON, Alaska -- JBER-Richardson military family housing is going to be privatized, with many of the oldest units being replaced by new homes, and other, newer units being renovated. JBER-Richardson joins the privatization of military family housing happening throughout all our military installations. The federal government realized in the mid-1990s that military family housing was in immediate need of improvement or replacement. Budgeting billions of dollars through traditional military construction was simply not a timely possibility. So Congress created the Military Housing Privatization Initiative as part of the 1996 National Defense Authorization Act. The MHPI allows the military services to privatize the housing on all domestic installations, expediting the improvement and replacement process. What does this mean to JBER? As a result of our joint basing, the Army and Air Force signed a Memorandum of Agreement for the implementation of the MHPI on JBER-Richardson. The privatization team was formed and has worked through various project milestones toward the end goals of this initiative. The JBER-Richardson project is following the standard Air Force process for privatizing military family housing, using the Air Force Center for Engineering and the Environment as our execution agent. The goal is to convey the housing and associated improvements to a Project Owner and lease the underlying land for a 50-year term, with the PO providing the financing and personnel to demolish, construct, renovate and maintain the homes and community for the 50 years. What does this mean to me and my family? Similar to what happens for private sector housing rental, military members will sign a lease and start receiving Basic Allowance for Housing. The rent paid for privatized housing equals the BAH received, and also includes basic utilities and renters insurance as a standard practice. Your initial lease will be for one year, and then becomes a month- to- month, unless PCS, ETS, or retirement orders require an earlier termination. Where are we at in the privatization process for JBER? A Request for Proposal, soliciting proposals from developers interested in this housing privatization opportunity, was issued and acceptable proposals received. Once Congress has approved and announced the JBER privatization team's Highest Ranked Offeror, the team and the HRO will enter negotiations to finalize the detailed plans for the development and operation of the housing and community. Once the legal documents are signed, the HRO will become the PO and move forward with the completion of planning and design, and begin construction of their proposed development. Where do we go from here? Until the HRO has been officially announced, the JBER privatization team and the Housing Management Office can only provide the residents of JBER-Richardson with information on the general effects that privatization will have on their lives, their housing options, and the future actions that may be required of them. There will be a tremendous amount of activity involved once the HRO/PO has been announced and the JBER team and the housing office will be working diligently to provide residents with details. Town hall meetings and briefings will be held to provide the plans for the transition from MFH to privatized housing. We are not able to announce dates at this time but will as soon as possible. The town hall meetings and briefings will also provide information about the HRO's overall proposal and the lease signing process. The HRO's proposal contains the construction, renovation, and demolition plans as well as how these plans affect each resident. Details will be provided to ensure a smooth and well phased plan with the least possible amount of disruptions to our families. We are fortunate to have as part of the team a housing management staff that has been through the privatization process for JBER-Elmendorf, with a wealth of experience to share in managing the program for JBER-Richardson. The end result will be the revitalization of our entire housing community on JBER-Richardson, offering service members' quality housing faster than traditional government efforts, which is a win-win situation for all of us at JBER. For further information see our frequently asked questions (FAQs) contained in this newspaper. Our points of the contact are Melody Marsh at 907-552-4295, JBER-Richardson Privatization Lead and Ivonne Bates, JBER-Richardson Privatization Contracted Project Manager at 907-552-0626. This is about taking care of our JBER people, providing an improved quality of life for our service members- that is the bottom line!