Airport owner says medevac, Bedminster can co-exist peacefully

September 6, 2005

BEDMINSTER -- Somerset Airport owner Daniel Walker traces animosity over the relocation of the state police NorthSTAR medevac helicopter to the Bedminster airport to one person: Township Committeeman Kurt Joerger.

That animosity led to a bitter election last year in which Joerger narrowly defeated Democratic challenger Allan R. Mass after a complex recount, has been followed by the harassment of those on both sides of the medevac issue -- often with cloak-and-dagger tactics -- and in general has torn the town apart.

Now political conflict over the medevac issue has led to a move to recall Joerger, who was appointed to the Township Committee seat vacated by Katherine Wagner last summer and was subsequently elected the following November.

Walker met Tuesday with Courier News editors to discuss the medevac issue and the future of the airport.

Though the airport occasionally receives complaints from neighbors about airplane noise, by far the majority come from Joerger, Walker said. He said the complaints began long before the medevac relocated to the airport in early February from its former home atop University Hospital in Newark.

The aim of the relocation was to better serve the population of the central and western parts of North Jersey. The medevac, which is funded in part by a $1 surcharge on motor vehicle registrations, transports victims of accidents and violence to trauma centers; its counterpart, the SouthSTAR helicopter, serves South Jersey.

Walker inherited the airport from his father, an airplane mechanic, who started it in 1946, he said. The 200-acre airport is jointly owned by Walker and his sister, Ellen Parker. Other members of his family, including his grown children, are involved in the airport operations in various capacities, he said.

Throughout the years, one of Walker's goals -- which he viewed as a trust from his late father -- has been to improve the airport. In keeping with that goal, he recently sought an FAA grant for airport improvements. When the medevac approached him about relocating, it seemed a perfect mesh with his plans for a new FAA-funded ramp, he said.

"I was quite happy when we were getting together because I felt the medevac would be a benefit to everyone in the northern part of the state," he said.

Walker sought a special-use permit from the Township Committee for a temporary trailer to house the medevac offices, which was granted last July.

But the plans ran into a road block when, led by Joerger, a citizens' group formed to oppose the medevac. As a result of the efforts of that group and its successor, the Bedminster, Branchburg, Bridgewater Concerned Citizens Coalition, with which Joerger has disavowed ties, the Township Committee revoked the special-use permit.

The permit was later restored as a result of a lawsuit filed by the airport, but the legal wrangling -- the coalition has filed two subsequent lawsuits -- has left the airport financially strapped and has necessitated a modification in the plans for a permanent medevac facility that will go before the Planning Board in the fall, Walker said.

He laid the blame for the controversy over the airport at the feet of Joerger, whom he has publicly called "the bully of Bedminster" for the threats he allegedly has leveled against Walker and his family.

Walker maintains that Joerger is motivated by self-interest. Joerger moved to 175-acre Lana Lobell Farm on Rattlesnake Bridge Road, which is about two-and-a-half miles from the airport, early in 2003. Long before the medevac was even an issue, Joerger was demanding that planes be prohibited from flying over his property, Walker said.

Though Walker said the airport tries to accommodate neighbors with noise complaints, he added that it isn't always possible to avoid flying over residents' houses -- especially in the case of a large property such as Joerger's -- and that he cannot compromise on airplane safety to do so.

Walker said he has logged about 75 complaints by telephone, fax and in person from Joerger since he moved in.

But Joerger denies that he is motivated by self-interest, pointing out that his residence is miles from the airport. Moreover, he maintains that he isn't against the medevac, but against its relocation to to an environmentally sensitive suburban residential area.

"It's miles away," he said. "It doesn't affect me; it doesn't affect my wife."

Like other opponents of the medevac relocation, Joerger said he resents being categorized as someone who opposes saving lives.

Gerri Perez, a resident of Reynard Road in Bridgewater and a member of the coalition against the medevac, agrees. She complained that the medevac hovers over houses in her neighborhood, and regularly wakes up her children at night. During the summer, she is reluctant to open her windows because of helicopter noise, she said.

"I just don't think that as a neighbor, Dan Walker cares about our quality of life, the drop in real estate values or the health of our children," she said.

Walker maintains, however, that noise from corporate and private helicopters is sometimes blamed on the medevac. He said that, as a public-use airport, the airport is also used by corporate helicopters, such as those from Merck and Johnson & Johnson.

But Matthew Gitterman, a neighbor of Perez on Reynard Road, said that during the day he can clearly identify the medevac helicopter as being the source of noise, which he also said wakes up his children at night. Moreover, he said the noise has only been noticeable since the medevac relocated in early February.

"There are a lot better places to put this," he said.

Actually, Walker said, helicopter traffic is considerably less, even with the medevac, than it was was during the 1970s, when the airport was offering helicopter lessons and when three state police helicopters were based there. During that period, there were 50 helicopter "operations" (a take-off or landing) a day, he said.

"Helicopters have been operating at the airport for as long as I can remember," he said.

The medevac averages four flights a day, with a high of eight and a low of one, Walker said. The fact that medevac response times have been cut by two thirds in the central and eastern parts of North Jersey as a result of the relocation is proof of its benefit to the public, he said.

"I'm a businessman," he said. "If I can provide a service to the community and bolster business at the same time, it's good for everybody."

MEDEVAC TIMELINE

• July 12, 2004: The Township Committee issues a special-use permit for a temporary trailer at Somerset Airport to house the medevac offices. The permit is valid through May 31, 2005.

• Aug. 5, 2004: Airport owner Daniel Walker presents the Planning Board with conceptual plans for an airport improvement to accommodate the medevac.

• Aug. 23, 2004: The Township Committee revokes the special-use permit it had previously granted to the airport for a trailer to temporarily house the medevac operation.

• Nov. 2, 2004: The medevac relocation becomes a hot issue in the Township Committee race, with Republican Kurt Joerger, an opponent of the medevac's relocation to Bedminster, narrowly beating Democrat Allen R. Mass, a medevac supporter.

• Nov. 4, 2004: State Superior Court Judge Victor Ashrafi orders Bedminster to grant the special-use permit in response to a lawsuit filed by Somerset Air Service, which operates the airport.

• Feb. 4, 2004: The medevac relocates to Somerset Airport from atop University Hospital in Newark to Somerset Airport.

• Spring 2005: An opposition group, the Bedminster, Branchburg, Bridgewater Concerned Citizens Coalition, files lawsuits against the airport, the township and the University of Medicine and Dentistry of New Jersey.

• April 18, 2005: The Township Committee votes to extend the special-use permit for the temporary trailer to house the medevac offices for nine months.

• June 15, 2005: The Board of Adjustment rules that it is not the intent of the township's land-use law to exclude the operation of helicopters at Somerset Airport.

By Stefanie Matteson
Staff Writer

From the Courier News website: www.c-n.com