Consultant Chosen to Guide Reuse Plans for El Toro Base

A panel formed to oversee conversion of the El Toro Marine Corps Air Station selected a consultant Wednesday to guide the complicated and controversial planning process.

In a 5-3 vote, with one member absent, the El Toro Reuse Planning Authority chose Post, Buckley, Schuh & Jernigan Inc. as its master consultant. Those dissenting had sought more time to study the issue.

The nine-member panel, composed of the five county supervisors and three council members from Irvine and one from Lake Forest, began meeting in January, months after much wrangling to determine how to plan uses for the 4,700-acre Marine base, set to close as early as 1996.

The consulting team chosen Wednesday consists of Orange County-based firms and lists among its experience the closures of Homestead and Lowry Air Force bases.

The team proposes to bring three plans for El Toro to the panel for consideration in about 15 months, a process that will include numerous public hearings and meetings.

Eleven firms initially submitted consultant proposals to the panel, with two finalists ultimately chosen.

“It was a tough decision,” said Irvine Mayor Michael Ward, a member of the panel. “Both were very well qualified, but it was my opinion that (they) had a team with more experience in base closures.”

He also cited the local experience of the team, led by Executive Director Dan Miller and project director Bill Vardoulis.

Miller is the former interim general manager for the Santa Margarita Water District and is a former chief of staff for the Orange County Board of Supervisors. He has also worked as interim city manager and transition consultant for the cities of Lake Forest, Laguna Niguel, Mission Viejo, Dana Point and Chino Hills.

Vardoulis is a former Irvine councilman and member of numerous commission boards and panels, including the Airport Land Use Commission and the Orange County Sanitation District. He was also involved in forming the joint powers agency that is responsible for financing the 70 miles of toll roads being built by the Transportation Corridor Agencies.

The cost of the contract, expected to be covered largely by federal planning grants, has yet to be negotiated.

In other developments, officials with the federal Bureau of Prisons renewed requests that panel members consider a minimum- or low-security prison with a minimum of 1,600 beds as one possible use at the base.

The panel did not take any action involving the request.