READINGTON TWP. - With mistrust evident on both sides, the family which owns Solberg Airport and the Township Committee made tentative overtures at the beginning of this week to resume negotiations on the future of the airport.

The Township Committee unanimously approved a $22 million bond ordinance on Tuesday, Feb. 21, which committee members say may be used to buy 650 acres of open space surrounding the airport, and also the development rights that would prevent a feared expansion of the airport facility itself.

The money would only be spent if the airport is acquired. Township officials said they would expect reimbursement for much of that amount if the Solbergs approved a sale.

Hundreds of residents packed the auditorium of the Holland Brook School last Tuesday for the public hearing on the bond ordinance.

Township Committeeman Frank Gatti said on Sunday he had asked Mayor Gerard Shamey to reach out to the Solbergs to discuss resuming talks, which fell apart in January.

Thor Solberg Jr., one of the three Solberg siblings who own Solberg Aviation along with other interested parties, said on Monday afternoon he had received a message from Shamey, and would contact the mayor about picking up the negotiating process again.

Meanwhile, the Solbergs continue to collect signatures to petition the township to place the question of whether to approve a $22 million bond ordinance that would be offered in a deal to the airport owners up for a vote on a public ballot.

“I think everyone in town deserves a vote on this enormous acquisition and liability to (the township),” Solberg said during last Tuesday’s public hearing.

The committee passed the bond ordinance because the township wanted to let the Solbergs “know we are serious” in the proposal to purchase both the land and the development rights limiting future growth at the airport facility, Shamey said at last Tuesday’s meeting.

“I know you’re serious,” Thor Solberg responded.

The township had attempted to halt plans for an airport expansion before the Federal Aviation Administration in 1999-2000 by proposing to condemn the airport property through eminent domain to protect the public good. The state stepped in with an offer to buy the airport instead, but that deal fell through.

Now, both sides are accusing the other of lying and hiding the real truth. Township Committee members charged the Solbergs are continuing to plan an expansion into a busy airport with heavy jet traffic, while the Solbergs and some of their supporters maintain the bond ordinance is just paving the way for another attempt at eminent domain.

Along with a disagreement over the value of the airport and surrounding property, the biggest sticking point in negotiations has been the size of the airport runway. The township wants the Solbergs to commit to keeping the runway at its current length of 3,735 feet forever in an agreement governing development rights.

“A runway of 4,000 feet can safely accommodate some jets,” and the Solbergs have proposed a cap of 5,000 feet on the runway length, Shamey said during the meeting.

During a give-and-take exchange with Shamey near the end of the three-hour hearing, Solberg told the mayor, “We don’t want to do it (expand the runway) today.” He added, however, that he didn’t want to completely limit what might take place at the airport 30 years from now. “I don’t know what we want to do,” he said last Tuesday.

On Monday, Solberg said the airport has absolutely no plans for an expansion on file before either the FAA, the state or the township. Solberg Aviation is only seeking permission from the state Department of Transportation to repave and improve the runway at its existing length of 3,735 feet, he said.

He said the Solbergs would never implement a plan to ruin the township, and added that any plans to alter the airport would require approvals from the FAA, the state and the township.

“We can’t make a move without a lot of red tape, none of which is in progress,” Solberg said at the meeting.

Shamey said he believed that the FAA was planning to complete the hearing back in 1999 in the Solberg’s favor as a foregone conclusion.

“I don’t have any faith in the process,” said Shamey.

Once the airport accepts federal funding, it would be unable to turn away larger aircraft as long as the runway was long enough to support their safe landing, according to township officials.

Shamey began the meeting by telling the audience, “It is the Solberg family’s preference, as well as the Township Committee’s, that ownership remain with Solberg Aviation.”

He added, “Our goals can be accomplished by purchasing 650 acres of open space and buying development rights on the 76-acre airport.”

But later during the meeting, township officials said they aren’t considering eminent domain “yet.”

The Solbergs believe the township is heading in the direction of eminent domain. Suzanne Solberg Nagle, another Solberg co-owner, wrote in a Feb. 16 letter to the Township Committee that “the real reason for the bond ordinance is to put you one step closer to condemning our property.”

Nagle’s letter said the bond ordinance “is not a coincidence any more than the hiring of a legal counsel that specializes in eminent domain (ie. Jay Rhatican) for the professed purpose of sitting down as neighbors and talking.”

Nagle had told the committee earlier in the month she would be unable to attend the public hearing on Feb. 21 and unsuccessfully tried to persuade the committee to delay the proceeding.

Nagle said the figure of $22 million is “premature.” During negotiations, the Solbergs had reportedly asked for $36 million for development rights only on the open space and airport facility. The negotiations began last fall after the committee delayed a vote on another $22 million bond ordinance, Nagle has asked the committee several times to sit down with the Solbergs and a mediator, who might offer a non-binding opinion to reach a solution.

Shamey said last Tuesday that he would consider it abandoning his responsibility as a leader in the township if he brought a third-party mediator in to decide Readington’s fate. He said such a mediator would likely just chose a runway length halfway between what the township and Solbergs want, but long enough to handle jets.

“Readington should plan Readington,” said the mayor.

But Thor Solberg and his sisters have argued that such planning should be done by more than five committee members, and a public vote on the bond ordinance would give residents more of a chance to decide their town’s future.

After petitions were passed around at the hearing, the Solbergs are continuing this week to collect signatures of at least 15 percent of the township voters who voted in last November’s general election, as required by law, to have the question placed on a public ballot.

Nagle said on Monday she was confident the Solbergs will reach their goal.

The Solbergs said they are collecting petitions at the airport. The family and supporters also plan to be at the King’s Supermarket and Bishop’s Market for the next few weekends collecting signatures, said Nagle and her brother.

Of the residents who spoke at the meeting, many expressed concern about the impact of noisy jets that would also increase danger to the community and adversely affect property values.

But others said they feared the tax impact of the acquisition and also legal costs if the township moved towards condemnation. Earlier during the meeting, Gatti had said that in the “worst-case scenario,” if the township received no aid towards the $22 million cost, the long-term impact of the bond ordinance would add $165 a year onto the average home assessed at $400,000 through most of the life of a 20-year bond.

Resident Michael Jones asked what the impact of such a large purchase would be on the municipality’s bond rating. He also urged the township to consider that the airport provides $59,000 in tax revenue each year, most of it coming from the small core of the actual airport facility.

Jones suggested the township consider taxing the airport’s buffer zone at the full tax rate, rather than as agricultural property, and also urged officials to look carefully at the impact of the operation on water quality, including the Chambers Brook.

Another resident, Mike Sclafani, told the committee, “I am worried about the 400 kids in this school that are going to be right on the fringe of the danger zone.”

Several others spoke of their fears that Solberg Airport could become as large as what used to be small airports in Morristown and Teterboro.

Resident Bob Cole called on Mayor Gerard Shamey to use perseverance, tolerance and honesty in getting back to the table and working out an agreement.

“It takes a lot to get beyond abusive patterns on both sides,” said Cole.

Longtime resident Ingelore Krug pleaded, “Don’t give us any more taxes we can’t afford.” She said taxes have become so prohibitive that her son, a pilot who learned to fly at Solberg, was unable to afford to live in Readington.

“No more taxes,” proclaimed Doug Mellos, who said he had lived in town for 33 to 34 years.

But other residents said they would prefer to pay more taxes for the life of the bond ordinance, rather than to see their property values and quality of life eventually destroyed by a growing jetport.

Resident William Smith said the cost of the bond ordinance would be for 20 years, but the cost of expanding the airport would have an impact on the township “in perpetuity.”

Marie Potenta was one of those who called for a resolution of the issue. “I’m afraid. I see anger on people’s faces in this room. I am almost afraid to speak my mind.” She said she was hoping the future of the airport would be resolved without resorting to eminent domain.

Bill Goodwin, another resident, said the Solbergs have consistently sought to expand the facility. “Buy it now, or buy it after it expands (when) possibly you would be paying double,” he advised the committee.

© Recorder Newspapers 2006

Date: March 2, 2006 Source: Hunterdon Review
URL: http://www.zwire.com/site/index.cfm?newsid=15997308&BRD=1918&PAG=461&dept_id=333252&rfi=8