THE VIRGINIAN-PILOT
Copyright (c) 1995, Landmark Communications, Inc.
DATE: Friday, December 1, 1995 TAG: 9512010206
SECTION: BUSINESS PAGE: D1 EDITION: FINAL
SOURCE: BY DEBBIE MESSINA, STAFF WRITER
LENGTH: Medium: 60 lines
As part of a restructuring plan, the Norfolk Field Office of the Federal Communications Commission is slated to closenext year.
The local FCC office is one of nine scheduled to be phased out nationwide.
While FCC officials maintain that service and enforcement will not be compromised, some fear that the closure could present safety issues in radio communications for police, fire, rescue, airport and military operations. In addition to normal air wave traffic, Hampton Roads is home to 12 military installations as well as Hampton Roads harbor and its shipping industry.
One of those lobbying to keep the office open is the recently retired director of the Norfolk Field Office, J. Jerry Freeman. Freeman has said closing the local office ``has the potential for disaster.''
Last year, the local office responded to 225 potentially life threatening situations, many involving military communication interfering with safety relates services like law enforcement and air traffic control.
An internal Federal Aviation Administration memo states there is a ``high degree'' of interference in the Norfolk area and that the FAA lacks the equipment and legal authority to handle the problem.
Under the proposed reorganization, the local office , which serves Virginia and North Carolina with seven staff members, would close by next July. The office, located on Diamond Springs Road in Virginia Beach, is one of 25 field offices that the FCC maintains.
Two technical staff members from each of the closed offices would be retained as resident agents who would work out of their homes.
To compensate for the closure, the FCC will open a national, toll-free call center, allowing the public to report complaints or get information.
An FCC spokesperson said all safety related problems will be handled by the resident agents. Non-safety activities, such as interference in home electronics equipment and equipment inspections, will be privatized.
Additionally, three of six regional FCC offices will be closed as well as nine frequency monitoring stations. In its place, a national automated monitoring network will be started.
To achieve these reductions, about 220 positions will be cut through buy-outs, early retirements and layoffs.
``While any employee cutbacks are painful, I believe that we have devised a responsible plan to reduce our operating force level, modernize our operations, minimize the impact on employees, and insure that the FCC can effectively and efficiently carry out our duties in the public interest within the budget limit that Congress has set,'' FCC chairman Reed Hundt said in a prepared statement.
The reorganization must gain the support of the House and Senate appropriations committees.
In Washington, Rep. Owen B. Pickett, whose district includes much of south Hampton Roads, is urging his colleagues to save the local office: ``There should be a high priority to maintain this office due to its strategic geographic location serving both the Port of Hampton Roads and the vast concentration of military facilities in southeastern Virginia.'' by CNB