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Airpark Expansion Approval On Hold Until March 31
By Bill McLaughlin
A project review committee of the Pinelands Commission tabled until March 31 a decision on the proposed cross-wind runway at Robert J. Miller Airpark on Route 530 in Berkeley.
There were questions by members of the panel as to whether the Ocean County Board of Freeholders had ever filed a master plan for the proposed expansion project.
Manchester resident Theresa Lettman of the Pinelands Preservation Alliance asked the panel to look closer at whether or not a mitigation plan for threatened and endangered species had been filed and they agreed to do so.
A panel member said she had not seen a master plan and wondered if a decision were being rushed for no good reason. A full report on the effects of putting a new runway on the site should be fully weighed, she said.
The Ocean County government administration was given preliminary approval to proceed with the project last August based on outlines offered at the time.
The county government hopes to install a 3,400-foot runway and parallel taxiway on the site, which has been in operation since 1967.
Also planned are an expansion of the existing terminal building, which is little more than two double-wide trailers, moving the existing runway 500 feet in from Route 530 and building two plane hangars.
The county administration is eager to get the necessary approvals because this project will be almost fully funded by the federal government. The Federal Aviation Administration will pay about 95 percent of the cost with the state and county splitting the balance. The project is estimated at $4 million. As with any government grant, it has a limited shelf life. This is a one-time offer, the freeholders board has said in approving the project.
Lettman asked the committee, if approval is given, that it include a provision that the applicant cannot come back in the future and seek additional variances.
A second runway is necessary, the county said, to supplement the 5,940-foot long main runway in times of gusting winds of 15 to 20 miles per hour. That happens as many as 100 days a year and represents a real peril to pilots as they land.
The proposed second runway would never be used for takeoffs, a fact that seems to have alleviated many concerns of Manchester residents who would be in the path of such flights. Airport personnel also maintain that there would be no increased harm to wildlife or plants and trees since the runway is well within the already fenced-in airport grounds.
The new runway would be a tarmac construction like the existing one. That fact precludes larger planes from using it due to weight restrictions. Larger jets would need concrete runways to handle the weight load. In fact, when a B-29 Stratofortress landed as part of a World War II airplane exhibit a few years ago, the four-engine bomber had to be mounted on steel plates to disperse the massive weight.
The Pinelands Preservation Alliance has maintained that any expansion in the Pinelands is bad for plants and animals, and will oppose any further incursions there. The county, which owns the airport but leases all operations to Oceanaire, Inc., a private company, has agreed to do what naturalists consider suitable remediation for the habitat.
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