Chapter 486. To authorize the disposition of lands no longer needed for naval purposes
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CHAP. 486.— An Act To authorize the disposition of lands no longer needed for naval purposes.June 7, 1926.[[H. R. 10312](/us/bill/69/hr/10312).][[Public, No. 345](/us/pl/69/345).] *Be it enacted by the Senate and House of Representatives of the United States of America in Congress assembled*,Navy.Disposal of lands no longer required for naval uses. That the Secretary of the Navy is authorized, when directed by the President, to transfer to the control of any executive department or other Government establishment or to dispose of on behalf of the United States, at public sale and upon such terms as he may deem best for the interests of the United States, such lands or portions thereof or interest therein acquired for naval purposes, and the improvements and equipment thereon, that are deemed by him to be no longer required for such purposes, at or in the vicinity of Alpena, Michigan (radio station!;
Duluth, Minnesota (radio Locations designated.station); Miami, Florida (radio station); Frenchmans Bay, Maine (coal depot); Malden, Massachusetts (naval niter depot); Provincetown, Massachusetts (Long Point Military Reservation); Siasconset, Massachusetts (radio station) : South Wellfleet, Massachusetts (radio station); Blackbeards Island, Georgia (naval reservation); Blythe Island, Georgia (naval reservation) ; Grover Island, Georgia (naval reservation): San Francisco, California (Mission Rock Naval Reservation);
Puget Sound, Washington (rifle range); Point Isabel, Texas (radio station) : Inglewood, California (radio station); and lot numbered 98, *Proviso*.Long Point Military Reservation reconveyed to Massachusetts. Yokohama, Japan (naval hospital) : *Provided*, That the Secretary of the Navy shall, if directed by the President, reconvey to the State of Massachusetts, without compensation, all right, title, and interest of the United States in said Long Point Military Reservation, except Portions retained.those portions retained for the Wood End Light Station and the permanent range beacons which mark the Inner Measured Mile Course, notwithstanding the authorization for the transfer or sale of such property hereinbefore provided.
Sec. 2.Appraisal of property not turned over to executive departments, etc. In the disposal of any of the aforesaid property not to be turned over to the control of another executive department or Government establishment, the Secretary of the Navy shall, in each and every case except as otherwise herein provided, cause the property to be appraised, either as a whole or in two or more parts, by an appraiser or appraisers to be chosen by him for each tract, and in the making of such appraisal due regard shall be given to the value of any improvements thereon and to the historic interest of any part of said land.
Sec. 3.Application from departments for transfer of property. In the event that any other department of the Government shall require the permanent use of all or any part of any of the reservations herein authorized to be sold, the head of the department requiring the same shall, within ninety days after the approval of this Act, make application to the Secretary of the Navy for the transfer thereof, giving the specific reasons therefor, but no such transfer be made unless approved by the President. 701 Sec. 4.
After ninety days from the date of the approval of thisNotification to governor of State of appraisal of lands therein. Act, and after the appraisal of the lands hereinbefore mentioned shall have been made and approved by the Secretary of the Navy, notification of the fact of such appraisal shall be given by the Secretary of the Navy to the governor of the State in which each such tract is located as to such lands not to be turned over to any other executive department or Government establishment, and suchOption for six months to a State, etc,, to acquire.
State, or the county in which such land is located, or the municipality in or nearest which such land is located shall, in the order named, have the option at any time within six months after such notification to the governor to acquire the same or any part thereof which shall have been separately appraised and approved upon payment within such period of six months of the appraised value thereof: *Provided, however*,*Proviso*.Use limited to public purposes. That the conveyance of said tract of land to such State, county, or municipality shall be upon the condition and limitation that said property shall be limited to the retention and use for public purposes, and upon cessation of such retention and use shall revert to the United States without notice, demand, or action brought: *And provided further*, That if the proper official or boardExtension of if no for payment by State, etc. of any such State, county, or municipality shall within such time limit notify the Secretary of the Navy that said State, county, or municipality desires to exercise such option but has not the money available with which to make the payment, then said land or such part thereof as may have been separately designated shall be held for sale to such State, county, or municipality for a period not to exceed two years from the date of such notification.
Sec. 5. Six months after the date of the notification of saidDisposal at auction if option not exercised. appraisal, if the option given in section 4 hereof shall not have been exercised in the manner herein specified, or after receipt by the Secretary of the Navy of notice that the State, county, and municipality do not desire to exercise the option herein granted, the Secretary of the Navy may sell or cause to be sold each of said properties at public sale at hot less than the appraised value thereof, after advertisement in such manner as he may direct.
Sec. 6. The expenses of appraisal, survey, advertising, and allExpenses of appraisal, etc. expenses incident to the sale of the property hereinbefore authorized for disposition shall be paid from the proceeds of the sale of any of the properties sold under this Act: *Provided*, That no auctioneer*Proviso*.Auctioneer fee limited. or person acting in said capacity shall be paid a fee for the sale of said property in excess of $100 a day. Sec. 7. A full report of all transfers and sales made under the provisionsReport to Congress. of this Act shall be submitted to Congress by the Secretary of the Navy upon the consummation thereof.
Sec. 8. The authority granted by this Act repeals all prior legislativePrevious authorizations repealed. authority granted to the Secretary of the Navy to sell or transfer any of the reservations herein designated. Sec. 9. That the net proceeds from the sale of the surplus NavyNaval Public Works Construction Fund.Net proceeds of soles to be deposited to credit of. Department property, hereinbefore designated, shall be deposited in the Treasury to the credit of a fund to be known as the Naval Public Works Construction Fund, to be and remain available until expended for permanent construction for the Naval Establishment, in such amounts as may be authorized from time to time by the Congress: *Provided*, That estimates of the money to be expended from the saidProvisos.Annual estimates of proposed use of fund.
Naval Public Works Construction Fund, including a statement of the specific construction projects embraced in such estimates, shall be submitted annually to the Congress by the Secretary of the Navy: *Provided further*, That any balance remaining unexpended orReversion to the Treasury of balance on March 4, 1933. unobligated in this fund shall revert to the Treasury on the 4th of March, 1933. 702 Sec. 10.Widows Island, Me.Quitclaimed to Maine. That the Secretary of the Navy lie, and he is hereby, authorized and directed to convey to the State of Maine, by appropriate quitclaim deed, all right, title, and interest of the United States in the land and improvements thereon constituting the site of the former naval reservation on Widows Island, Maine.
Sec. 11.Lents, Oreg. Sale of former radio station at, ratified, etc. That the sale by the Navy Department on April 16, 1919, of the land and improvements thereon at the former radio station at Lents, Oregon, for the price of $1,916, is hereby ratified, and the Secretary of (he Navy is authorized to execute and deliver proper deed to the purchaser of said property and to do any other act necessary to effectuate such sale. Sec. 12.Key West, Fla.Right of way, in Naval Hospital grounds conveyed to.
That the Secretary of the Navy be, and he is hereby, authorized to convey to the city of Key West, Florida, all right, title, and interest of the United States in a certain tract of land about ten feet wide and two hundred feet long, extending along White Street, at present inclosed within and constituting a part of the grounds of the United States Naval Hospital at Key West, Florida, for the purpose of widening said White Street to a width of forty-five feet: *Proviso*.Expenses to be paid by the city.*Provided*, That the said city of Key West shall pay all expenses in connection with the widening of said street, including the moving and reelection of the concrete wall now inclosing the hospital grounds along said White Street and the construction of a new sidewalk abutting the said street.
Sec. 13.Washington, D. C.Lease of Old Naval Hospital, continued for 15 years, to managers of Temporary Home for Soldiers and Sailors. That the Secretary of the Navy be, and he is hereby, authorized to lease the Old Naval Hospital property, Washington, District of Columbia, bounded by Pennsylvania Avenue, E Street, Ninth Street, and Tenth Street, southeast, to the Board of Management of the Temporary Home for Soldiers and Sailors, for the purpose of a temporary home for ex-soldiers and sailors, for a period of fifteen years, upon the same terms and conditions as those existing in the present lease, notwithstanding the provisions of the Act of AugustVol. 39, p. 550.*Proviso*.Reversion automata tally for nonuse. 29, 1916 (Thirty-ninth Statutes, pages 559-560) : *Provided*, That when the said property shall cease to be used for said purposes said lease shall be automatically terminated and the said property shall revert to the full custody and control of the Navy Department.
Sec. 14.Authority conferred on the Secretary. That the Secretary of the Navy be, and he is hereby, authorized to execute on behalf of the United States all instruments necessary to accomplish the aforesaid purposes. Approved, June 7, 1926.