Out of the three local military installations scheduled for closure by the Pentagon's Base Realignment & Closure Commission, Neville Township's portion of the Charles E. Kelly Support Facility has the fewest encumbrances and should be able to be put back on the market pretty quickly, officials say.

In addition, Neville Township Board of Commissioners and the community will have total control on what can be placed on that property.

During an information meeting last week, A.J. Schwartz of Environmental Planning and Design Co., gave an overview of the three sites, including the 15 acres located in Neville.

It is is almost completely flat, is totally out of the flood plan, has no drainage problems and is zoned industrial.

Although there could be some contamination issues, Schwartz said there is nothing underground that is required to be removed.

"There may be a limitation on where buildings can be placed on the property," he added.

He also said that on one portion of the property, there are rail spurs that need some work, but those rails could be reset and possibly reused.

There are eight buildings on the maintenance site, the largest of which is a machine shop. Other structures include a sandblasting building, storage facilities and quanset huts.

Operations from the Neville and Collier sites will be moved to the current site of the 99th Regional Headquarters in Moon Township.

Schwartz said the machine shop at the Newell site is very well maintained, and another business wouldn't have any trouble just moving directly into it. As far as what kind of businesses could be placed on the property, the township and residents have the last say in the matter, according to Patrick Earley, Allegheny County Economic Development business development specialist.

"You guys have total control. Before anything happens, it has to go before the commissioners to get approval. No one can come in and build whatever they want," Earley said.

Jerry Schweiger, Cornell School Board vice president, asked about the possibility of encouraging the relocation of some businesses on other sites in the township, in particular Point Springs.

He said a study done a few years ago suggested more residential dwellings on the part of the island that houses Point Springs.

Earley said no funds are available from the Department of Defense to help businesses relocate.

Schweiger also suggested that a company such as Fed Ex Ground might be interested in the facility because of the portion that is now used as a staging area for military vehicles needing repairs.

Schwartz said the suggestions could be passed along to the project's real estate consultant. He also said the question of whether the property must remain industrial is the township's decision.

Earley explained that, in the past when the military shut down such installations, "they would just walk away. But, they learned that's not the best way to do that. It affects a lot of lives and communities."

Now an array of requirements must be met when these facilities close. Earley said although most of the requirements are geared toward the bigger facilities and might seem like "overkill" with the smaller properties, all must be followed exactly.

One of the requirements was to form a new authority to deal with the closures in the communities and to prepare a redevelopment plan.

Earley said since there was no money to form such an authority, the Kelly Center Local Redevelopment Authority (KCLRA) through the Redevelopment Authority of Allegheny County was formed instead.

Among committee members are James Barrick, Neville engineer; Karen Ford, Neville Island Development Association (NIDA); five Collier Township representatives and Earley.

A grant from the federal Office of Economic Adjustment will pay for the study. Once the plan is completed, it will be sent to the Department of Defense and Housing and Urban Development to approve and make sure all the correct steps were followed.