Senior officials to wait two weeks before change

FORT HUACHUCA - Closing the West Gate of Fort Huachuca to four hours of operation each day Monday through Friday has been delayed by senior post officials.

The change, from 24 hours a day every day of the year to 6 a.m.-8 a.m. and 4 p.m.-6 p.m. on weekdays, was to go into effect Thursday, Feb 15.

Garrison Commander Col. Jonathan Hunter said that a two-week relief for the gate as an entrance and exit from the fort will be 6 a.m. to 6 p.m. Monday through Friday, and 9 a.m. to 3 p.m. on Saturday, effective Thursday.

The delay in implementing the shorter hours was to "give the local community an opportunity and additional time to find solutions to meet their needs," Hunter said Monday.

The post's entry points were subject to an Army-directed survey with the result that there was no need for the West Gate to be opened at all, the garrison commander said.

Residents who live on the west side of the post, including some in Elgin, Sonoita and Canelo in Santa Cruz County, have used the gate as a shortcut to Sierra Vista for decades. The Army decision to cut the gate hours created verbal and written displeasure.

Some of the nearly 600 residents on the west side of the Huachuca Mountains are military or civil service retirees, a few active duty people and some civilian workers and contractors employed on the post.

No ties to Army

But, the majority are individuals with no ties to the military who use the road between the West Gate and the Main Gate as an avenue to come to and from Sierra Vista for medical appointments, to work and to shop.

Hunter said the survey was done by the service's top law enforcement general, the Provost Marshal of the Army, and that it showed the amount of traffic going through the West Gate was small and that based on traffic flow it had no reason to be open, the colonel said.

The operation of the gates was an Army decision, with only the Main Gate opened 24 hours a day, every day of the year and hours at the East Gate reduced to 5 a.m. to 7 pm. on weekdays on Feb. 1 (from 5 a.m. to 9 p.m., Monday through Friday, and 6 a.m. to 9 p.m. on weekends).

If for any reason a solution to the West Gate operation cannot be found by March 1, it will only be opened four hours a day Monday through Friday, and closed on weekends and federal holidays.

The decision to extend the period of longer hours was made based on a number of phone calls, e-mails and letters he received, Hunter said.

While many people want the military to pay for longer hours of operation at the West Gate, the colonel said, "It's not an Army bill."

If funding - probably from a nonfederal government source - can be found, Hunter said he will make every effort to see it is accepted by the Army to be used for gate guard operations.

Denise Snow, who lives outside the West Gate, said Democratic U.S. Rep. Gabrielle Giffords informed her and other residents last week that funding solutions may have to be through local resources, from Santa Cruz and Cochise counties.

The Santa Cruz County Board of Supervisors has the West Gate issue on the agenda of its 9:30 a.m. meeting Wednesday in Nogales.

Operating the West Gate 24 hours daily requires about $350,000, the garrison commander said. Keeping the gate open four hours a day, Monday through Friday will cost $50,000, he added.