Car-storage site for deployed soldiers now open

CARTHAGE — The automotive storage facility operated by Agility Defense & Government Services Inc. at 700 West End Ave. in Carthage Plaza is up and running.

The village Planning Board approved continued operation of the facility Thursday after having granted a conditional-use permit Nov. 5 and receiving recommendations from the Jefferson County Planning Board.

The vehicle-storage facility is part of a $42 million contract with Army Installation Management Control to provide storage of deployed soldiers' vehicles at Army posts in the eastern part of the country. Agility Defense & Government Services operates similar facilities at Fort Benning, Ga., and Fort Polk, La., and plans to open facilities at Fort Stewart, Ga., Fort Campbell, Ky., and Fort Bragg, N.C., in 2010.

For the facility in Carthage, the company converted the former Ames department store, which closed in 2002, into a space capable of storing 150 privately owned vehicles.

Before the facility opened, service members could use storage locations open to the public or certain parking lots to store vehicles during deployment.

The Carthage Plaza facility offers a more convenient option, said Robert M. Germain, a representative of plaza owner Redstone Investments.

"Some of these soldiers are very attentive to their cars. They don't want them sitting out in lots exposed to the elements," Mr. Germain said. "It's positive to the community because you're taking an underutilized building and turning it into something that everyone needed."

To make the former department store suitable for vehicle storage, Agility Defense & Government Services added two large roll-up garage doors and ramps to the side of the building, an exhaust system, a camera system and intrusion detection devices. The facility is climate-controlled. Stored cars are covered and receive monthly inspections.

Recent legal actions against Public Warehousing Co., the former name of the company that owns Agility Defense & Government Services, will not affect current contracts, including the vehicle-storage contract with the Army, according to a statement issued by Agility Defense & Government Services.

Public Warehousing was indicted Nov. 16. for alleged fraud and false claims concerning contracts from 2003 and 2005 with the Department of Defense's Defense Logistics Agency to supply food for U.S. service members in Kuwait, Iraq and Jordan. The U.S. government filed a related civil claim the same day.

In its statement, Agility Defense & Government Services said it anticipates opening additional sites in the area as required by the size of deployments. The Carthage facility has three full-time employees, but may add up to six more depending on volume.