READINGTON — It’s the talk of the virtual town: Internet forums are buzzing over the recent sale of a parcel of land near Solberg-Hunterdon Airport to a man connected to the founder of a citizens group that has lodged a lawsuit against township officials.
Daniel Devine, owner of an aviation company that reportedly has planes based at Solberg-Hunterdon Airport, recently bought a property at 15 Thor Solberg Road with Lebanon Borough resident Eric Waser. According to a deed filed with the Hunterdon County clerk’s office, Stephen Nozza sold the property Feb. 9 to Devine and Waser for $865,000.
Devine is the brother of Kevin Devine, founder of the Taxpayers Alliance of Readington.
Ever since the alliance filed a lawsuit against Readington last September -- claiming township officials were "in violation of their representations to the public and the limits of their authority" by acting to seize Solberg-Hunterdon Airport through eminent domain -- frequent users of sites dedicated to Solberg discussions have attempted to unravel why the Taxpayers Alliance was so interested in the case.
Now, the online sleuths say, the property sale proves what they’ve been claiming for months: that the Devines aren’t impartial tax crusaders but have some vested interest in the Solbergs and their general-aviation airport.
No information, no comment
Devine did not return calls seeking comment on the sale. Waser, who said he would contact Devine for any comment, did not return subsequent phone calls.
Nozza, a licensed real estate broker who is listed as the CEO of the New Jersey Equity Corporation, also declined comment.
"I don’t appreciate what your paper has written in the past," Nozza said when reached last week on his cell phone. "And I’m not giving you any information today."
Somerville attorney Robert J. Ferb, who prepared the deed for Nozza, also said he could not provide details of the sale.
"If my client has declined comment, I certainly cannot," Ferb said.
But Internet "investigators" are talking.
"Devine could be simply helping shore up the position of the die hards," according to a post by ReadngtnDude, the apparent author of a forum titled "Daniel Devine Buys property @ 15 Thor Solberg Road" on www.njtalkforums.com. "BTW, that property would be a really good idea to own regardless of the outcome of the ED (eminent domain) proceedings if the Solbergs wish to actually expand the airport to its allowed limits since it would keep a potentially very hostile neighbor at bay."
Airport co-owner Suzanne Solberg Nagle said she was unaware of the speculation surrounding the sale.
"I heard that this was going to happen, but I haven’t been involved with it at all," she said. "That’s really all the knowledge I have at this point."
Nagle said she could not confirm if Devine has planes at the airport "because it’s private."
The sale, however, is a gold mine for Township Committee supporters who have repeatedly denounced the Taxpayers Alliance as a front for interests that may go deeper than saving money on property taxes, as Kevin Devine has claimed.
The battle in court
Kevin Devine has said he has no ulterior motive for filing the lawsuit other than to oppose what the suit claims is a violation of public statements by the Township Committee to not exceed $22 million to acquire the 625 acres of land surrounding Solberg-Hunterdon Airport, as well as its development rights. That amount, passed by township voters through a bond referendum last May, is just above the $21.7 million township officials have deposited in state Superior Court to take the property.
Superior Court Judge Yolanda Ciccone has stayed the township’s deposit -- called a declaration of taking -- through June until she decides if Readington’s eminent domain action is legal. Because court-appointed commissioners or a jury could put a higher purchase price on the land if Ciccone rules Readington can take the property, the Taxpayers Alliance wants Ciccone to limit acquisition costs or dismiss the township’s case.
Ciccone has delayed the group’s lawsuit to keep all motions related to the airport case "running on the same parallel track."
Conspiracy theories
Users of the Solberg discussion sites, many of whom appear to support the township’s case, say the sale is just the latest in a web of apparent connections between the Devines and political campaigns against current Township Committee members.
According to New Jersey Election Law Enforcement Commission filings, the software companies the Devine brothers have worked for -- Totsys and Onco -- donated at least $5,000 in 2005 to former Township Committee candidate James Hunter.
Hunter ran an unsuccessful campaign last summer during the Republican primary election. He also lost to Township Committeewoman Julia Allen’s write-in campaign during the 2005 general election, after defeating her in the primaries. The donations from the Lebanon Borough-based companies were filed Nov. 4, 2005.
A political committee called Republicans for Tax Relief, based at Daniel Devine’s home address, also donated $4,500 to Hunter in 2005. Kevin Devine personally contributed an additional $2,500.
What the online activists say they’re concerned about is that Devine’s aviation company, AJA Aviation, is based at the same address listed for both software companies that contributed to Hunter’s attempt to unseat Readington officials who have supported acquiring Solberg-Hunterdon Airport.
Eric Zwerling, a township supporter who has researched the Devines, said last fall that the donations appear to be "part of a concerted effort to influence elections and to buy a seat in the Readington town council to influence the outcome of the future of the open space surrounding Solberg Airport."
from the Courier News website www.c-n.com
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Date: March 25, 2007 Source: C-N.com — Courier News Online
URL: http://www.c-n.com/apps/pbcs.dll/article?AID=/20070325/NEWS/703250304
