HAGÅTÑA (The Guam Daily Post) — By the start of the fourth public hearing on Bill 184-37, the Committee on Land, Health and Justice had sat through over 12 hours of testimony trying to resolve some of the inconsistencies heard in weighing site selection of the medical complex.
“As you know we had a hearing prior to these four hearings on Bill 184, we had a hearing on Eagles Field, we had asked the governor at that time also to come and address the Legislature with her proposals after the attorney general opined that the Eagles Field lease would require legislative approval. The lease was never laid out for legislative approval. We have also had two oversight hearings for Ypao Point. Which we received a myriad of reasons why a hospital could not be built there despite it ranking number 2 in the Matrix study and these reasons included fire ants, salt spray and trash,” said Speaker Therese Terlaje at the start of the fourth public hearing.
The Guam Legislature through Bill 184-37 is being asked to allow the Guam Ancestral Lands Commission to sell or lease seven lots in Barrigada known as Eda Agaga but referred to by the senator as Adacao Crown Lands.
Part of the issue however, is the fact that the Legislature is also being asked to not rely on the $1.6 million assessment conducted by Matrix which the Crown lands were not a part of.
“We are being asked to consider other information based on what the governor has told people or other information the director of land management is suggesting we rely on,” the speaker said.
The speaker pointed out that the Matrix study used data on the sites and criteria for selection given to them by the government but “all of a sudden should not be” relied upon.
“So the suggestion that we all of a sudden should not rely on Matrix data and rely instead on previous analysis done by the director of land management and personnel at GEDA is just concerning to me because this is a $1 billion or more investment that’s going to be placed not just on our backs, current taxpayers, but in the backs of future tax payers and I do believe that if we are going to depart from Matrix analysis we should have a very objective reason for doing so,” the speaker said.
Some of the looming questions included the terms of the agreement for the sale or lease, the promise of a Veterans facility and the potential for condemnation of private lands.
To find some resolve, Guam Economic Development Authority Administrator Melanie Mendiola and Department of Land Management Director Joe Borja were called to the table.
For the bulk of the hearing, senators questioned Mendiola. First asking her how long it would take to complete a study of the proposed lands and the types of studies they will conduct. While the contract has not been signed yet, Mendiola said it would take a year to 16 months to complete studies to include unexploded ordnance, archeological survey and soil survey.
But the timeline is a moving target.
“For the most part, our studies, the cost of the studies are under half a million dollars. And so because GEDA has its own procurement, we should be able to handle it. At any procurement over half a million goes through the Attorney General’s Office as you’re aware, and so that tends to change the timeline a bit, but I think if we can manage the procurement process then we can manage the progress,” Mendiola said.
The plan for the medical campus includes the Guam Behavioral Health and Wellness Center, Public Health and a Veterans facility.
The veterans portion of the medical action plan recommends 50 beds based on the veteran population which equates to 140,000 to 200,000 square feet. According to Mendiola, that’s about a third of the hospital.
“I thought (it) was quite large but I do believe the medical action plan was also citing the multiple uses for a VA facility including the adult,” Mendiola said.
But while the plan makes it appear as though the Veterans facility will be a wing in the hospital, the speaker pointed out that the governor has eluded to it being a separate facility by stating the VA has been invited to co-locate.
“My issue is that we’ve had veterans come in and testify and I’m very concerned about what they are being told. And that’s why I really want the information to come through here. If that’s what we’re supposed to rely on. You tell me what to rely on because what Matrix says and the others are saying don’t match, right? And so I just want to know, I don’t want them to say we’re holding back, if for example, if this bill doesn’t pass Bill 184 is to allow the sale of these lots and they made it sound like they were told they need the sale of these lots, and in order to get a VA facility,” the speaker said.
DLM Director Borja confirmed for senators that there was not potential for private lands to be condemned for the expansion of access roads to the medical campus. He noted that there are 100-foot easements for the construction of six lane road on Route 15.
As Guam Memorial Hospital Authority crumbles, legislators continue to struggle to find solutions.
