|
Medevac plans move forward in Bedminster
Septic expansion is approved, and an application is filed to convert Somerset Airport hangar into offices
November 18, 2005
In a move opponents see as the first step toward Northstar medevac's permanent relocation, the Bedminster board of health last night unanimously approved a significant enlargement of Somerset Airport's septic system.
The vote came just hours after a separate site plan application to convert a hangar to medevac offices was filed with the planning board.
Concerned residents packed last night's meeting, questioning airport owner Daniel Walker and his engineer, Gregory Yannaccone, about the details of the proposed medevac facility.
Northstar, the State Police medical helicopter program, sparked controversy in Bedminster when it moved its operations from the University of Medicine and Dentistry of New Jersey in Newark to a temporary home in a trailer at the airport in February.
Neighbors have complained about noise and pollution.
"I feel like it's changing the character of the neighborhood I loved so much," said Bridgewater resident David Kritz. "That's what scares me."
But a permanent deal is moving forward. Terrence Hoben, air medical coordinator for Northstar, said the last 10 months were a "honeymoon phase," and a deal with Walker was imminent.
"I'm hoping to have that in a matter of days," said Hoben.
A 2004 lease between Somerset Air Service and Northstar states the rent paid to the airport is $2,675 per month for use of the hangar and trailer site.
Residents last night aired concerns about the expansion of the airport's services, but Walker and lawyer William Mennon insisted the hearing focus on the application before the board.
"This is not a medevac issue. This is a septic tank issue," Walker said.
The approval clears the way to install two new septic tanks -- a one 1,750 gallons and one 1,000 gallons -- and a 3,500-gallon pump pit. The system would service the renovated office space and a possible future facility.
The approval stipulated no dangerous or infectious substances, including medical waste, would be discharged into the septic system. But Maria Nucci, a practicing physician who lives in Bedminster, was not satisfied.
"I don't like -- medically -- the way our health department handled this," Nucci said. "Where are these people going to wash their hands when they touch blood?"
The separate site plan application filed with the planning board details the modification of the hangar. The proposed expansion includes four offices, an open area, two restrooms and a kitchenette adjacent to the hangar.
Yannaccone said the proposals assume a 24-hour facility with two pilots and two nurses working eight-hour shifts and a mechanic and administrator working the day shift.
He also said the plans took into account the possibility of a future medevac facility.
"I believe there's a concept plan for a new building," Yannaccone said.
Alan Harwick, a Bridgewater resident and lawyer for the Bedminster, Bridgewater, Branchburg Concerned Citizens Coalition, has argued the relocation to Somerset Airport is illegal because medevac is meant to be "hospital-based."
But Hoben said the wording "hospital-based" was not literal.
"It does not require a geographic location," Hoben said. He compared medevac's location away from UMDNJ's University Hospital in Newark to the remote locations of its ambulance emergency medical service.
"Our ambulances are not sitting on top of the hospital waiting to be called. They are dispersed around the region," he said.
"If the Legislature intended this to be a regional-based system, they would have said it," replied Harwick. "It's clear as day."
The citizens coalition has launched a string of lawsuits opposing the medevac relocation.
Harwick said there was a "deeper" matter of medevac's plan going forward. He said medevac flight logs he examined from July, August and September indicate the helicopter was used more often for State Police business than for medical emergencies.
"The whole premise of coming to this town was for life-saving measures," said Harwick. "What I'm finding out is otherwise."
Staff writer Jennifer Weiss contributed to this report.
By NYIER ABDOU AND RALPH ORTEGA
Star-Ledger Staff Writers |
