City declines grants

At the August public meeting of the Linden City Council, our town decided to put in place a "moratorium" on future FAA grants for the airport.

The council members were split on the issue. The vote was 5 to 5. Mayor Derek Armstead broke the tie with another vote to suspend further grants. With the Mayor's vote, the measure passed. This means no more grants for LDJ, unless and until the Council takes another vote and reverses the August decision.

None of the council member who voted against grants - or the mayor - adequately explained why they were taking this action. All we got was incoherent political gibberish in response.

Some members of the public  - not pilots - asked the council to explain. You can see and hear the exchange for yourself. All Linden Council meetings are posted to YouTube. Here is a link to the video of the meeting. Fast forward to 1 hour and 12 minutes into the meeting and you'll start to see people asking about this issue and expressing interest in the fate of the airport - and how a thriving airport can help boost business in Linden.

Here's what we think are the important takeaways:

• Past FAA grants come with obligations that will last another 14 years.
• The City has, without quesiton, failed to comply with past grant obligations.
• Until the City comes into compliance, the FAA is not going to provide any more grants.
• So the City deciding not to take more grants is essentially meaningless, like the disgruntled employee telling his boss, "you can't fire me, I quit!"
• City attorney Daniel Antonelli went on record claiming that the airport is being maintained right now, and there is no need for grants, which are not supposed to be for maintenance anyway - just for "improvements".
• Routine maintenance is supposed to be performed "at the expense of the airport operator," according to attorney Antonelli.

Use this link for the Council meeting YouTube page.