The Cape May County commissioners are nearing a critical decision about the management of the county airport based on bids solicited in March and closed in May. The bid proposal sought a provider of air-side services for the airport while preserving county control over capital improvements and the development of the airport’s more than 1,000 acres.
The Delaware River and Bay Authority has overseen the airport in an arrangement with the county for just over 25 years.
There has been a debate over whether ending the relationship with the DRBA and making a bid award is a wise move without more exploration of the potential to modify the existing DRBA lease. The dissenting voice arguing that a bid award at this time would be premature belongs to Commissioner Will Morey, who also has argued that the issue has not had sufficient public involvement.
At issue as a key part of the discussion of public involvement is a $32-million-plus repayment the county would have to make to the DRBA for that agency’s investments at the airport, a repayment that would have a significant impact on county finances and, potentially, on county taxpayers.
“The taxpayers deserve to hear from the commissioners about their vision and plans for the airport, including a sense of the economics involved. It’s reasonable for taxpayers to expect this on the front end and not after a decision is made and [a bid] is awarded,” Morey wrote in a June 26 email to county Solicitor Jeff Lindsay.
Morey for 12 years was the commissioner charged with oversight of the county’s relationship with the DRBA. The majority of the commission, led by Director Len Desiderio, seeks direct county control of what they call a “vital public asset.” Morey has argued that careful negotiations could potentially give the county what it seeks while simultaneously preserving the relationship with the DRBA, which has invested more than $32 million in capital improvements at the site.
Despite Morey’s feeling that the county could potentially achieve its desired ends through negotiations with the DRBA, board Vice Director Andrew Bulakowski read a statement at the June 24 commission meeting that closed the door on future talks. Noting that the statement he read was from the absent Desiderio, Bulakowski said, “After careful consideration the county commissioners decided to move forward with reclaiming control of the county airport to further align this vital public asset with the interests and priorities of our residents.”
Recently the debate over the county’s future relationship with the DRBA spilled over into an exchange of emails between county Solicitor Jeff Lindsay and Morey, precipitated in part by attempts by the Herald to bring some of the principals together for an on-the-record discussion. The Herald’s goal was to better inform the public of this important issue before, rather than after, the county voted on a future arrangement for airport management.
Over a year ago, on May 7, 2024, the county commissioners notified the DRBA that the county wished to regain direct control over the 1,000-plus acres that comprise the airport. Soon after, on June 6, the commissioners voted to give the DRBA notice of their intent to not renew the 30-year lease that has had the DRBA provide management, oversight and significant capital investment at the airport, a lease for which DRBA paid $1 per year. In that vote Morey dissented.
The original lease was signed on June 8, 1999. With that arrangement, DRBA began 25 years of managing the airport property and investing more than $32 million in capital improvements. According to the bid solicitation issued by the county, the DRBA lease expires in May 2028.
The DRBA operates five airports in Delaware and the four southern counties of New Jersey. This relationship with local airports is, according to the DRBA, part of its mission to “revitalize transportation links and promote economic development.”
The lease was coming up for renewal for another 30 years in June 2024. The county’s efforts to end the lease arrangement led to an emergency meeting of the commissioners on June 6, 2024, at which they voted to issue a notice of nonrenewal. According to the statement recently read by Bulakowski, the county issued that notice “with the aim of renegotiating a new lease agreement” with the DRBA.
The statement went on to say that “DRBA has advised the county on multiple occasions that they would not be willing to provide the county with control over additional land at the airport.” The statement says that ending the relationship with the DRBA “opens the door to new opportunities” for the county and places “the county in the best possible position to address some of the most pressing issues facing our residents.”
There has as yet been no detailed public discussion of the county’s plans for the airport land. In an email from Morey to Lindsay dated June 29, Morey argues that the need to reimburse the DRBA more than $32 million for capital improvements at the termination of the relationship creates an obligation on the county to engage in more public discussion of its actions.
In the email Morey says, “When the financial implications are so significant, our taxpayers deserve to be informed and that every reasonable ‘stone’ be turned to achieve the best possible outcome for them and their families.”
It is clear from the exchange of several emails to which the Herald has access that Morey feels strongly that his experience overseeing the relationship with the DRBA for more than a decade, his 50 years of direct aviation experience from the county airport and his “significant business experience” all constitute attributes that could be valuable in any negotiations with the DRBA. He adds in an email, “I need to be part of the team to do so.”
But Morey feels frozen out of the team working on the future of the airport even though he has unique credentials to bring to the effort. He says his attempts to contribute to this decision-making have been motivated by a desire to achieve “the county board’s goals for the airport and not a situation in which I am in disagreement with the county and/or working against the [bid solicitation], generally, or for any clearly de minimis personal reasons.”
The issue of greater public transparency involving a range of the commissioners’ decision-making has been repeatedly brought to the board’s attention during public comment at commission meetings.
The airport’s future is not the only issue over which Morey’s arguments for greater transparency have angered his colleagues, who feel the board is already transparent in its deliberations. Another such debate ensued over new limitations imposed by the board on public comment at meetings.
The desire to enhance public involvement in an important decision about the county’s finances and the future of a critical asset was the motivating force behind the Herald’s invitation to key players to meet with the paper’s editorial board. Morey agreed to the meeting, but Lindsay opposed it as a potential violation of the Open Public Meetings Act and of procurement law.
Attempts to alter the structure of the meeting to meet these objections did not change things, and the meeting never occurred. What remained was a concern that the county commissioners might only truly involve the public when they were prepared to vote on the bids, making the vote essentially a fait accompli.
There is no evidence on when the board plans to vote to award the air-side operations contract to another entity. There has also been no attempt by the board to engage the public in a discussion of the airport’s future prior to making such an award. One factor that created some concern was that Bulakowski read Desiderio’s statement on June 24 only after the public comment period had closed for that meeting.
The Herald’s efforts in the matter are aimed at ensuring that public discussion occurs while that public input can still have an influence on events, and not after a decision is made or is scheduled for an imminent vote in such a way that public input is minimized.
Contact the reporter, Vince Conti, at vconti@cmcherald.com.
‘The Taxpayers Deserve to Hear’: Airport Vote Nears
By Vince Conti
Decision Involves $32M Repayment to DRBA
The Cape May County commissioners are nearing a critical decision about the management of the county airport based on bids solicited in March and closed in May. The bid proposal sought a provider of air-side services for the airport while preserving county control over capital improvements and the development of the airport’s more than 1,000 acres.
The Delaware River and Bay Authority has overseen the airport in an arrangement with the county for just over 25 years.
There has been a debate over whether ending the relationship with the DRBA and making a bid award is a wise move without more exploration of the potential to modify the existing DRBA lease. The dissenting voice arguing that a bid award at this time would be premature belongs to Commissioner Will Morey, who also has argued that the issue has not had sufficient public involvement.
At issue as a key part of the discussion of public involvement is a $32-million-plus repayment the county would have to make to the DRBA for that agency’s investments at the airport, a repayment that would have a significant impact on county finances and, potentially, on county taxpayers.
“The taxpayers deserve to hear from the commissioners about their vision and plans for the airport, including a sense of the economics involved. It’s reasonable for taxpayers to expect this on the front end and not after a decision is made and [a bid] is awarded,” Morey wrote in a June 26 email to county Solicitor Jeff Lindsay.
Morey for 12 years was the commissioner charged with oversight of the county’s relationship with the DRBA. The majority of the commission, led by Director Len Desiderio, seeks direct county control of what they call a “vital public asset.” Morey has argued that careful negotiations could potentially give the county what it seeks while simultaneously preserving the relationship with the DRBA, which has invested more than $32 million in capital improvements at the site.
Despite Morey’s feeling that the county could potentially achieve its desired ends through negotiations with the DRBA, board Vice Director Andrew Bulakowski read a statement at the June 24 commission meeting that closed the door on future talks. Noting that the statement he read was from the absent Desiderio, Bulakowski said, “After careful consideration the county commissioners decided to move forward with reclaiming control of the county airport to further align this vital public asset with the interests and priorities of our residents.”
Recently the debate over the county’s future relationship with the DRBA spilled over into an exchange of emails between county Solicitor Jeff Lindsay and Morey, precipitated in part by attempts by the Herald to bring some of the principals together for an on-the-record discussion. The Herald’s goal was to better inform the public of this important issue before, rather than after, the county voted on a future arrangement for airport management.
Over a year ago, on May 7, 2024, the county commissioners notified the DRBA that the county wished to regain direct control over the 1,000-plus acres that comprise the airport. Soon after, on June 6, the commissioners voted to give the DRBA notice of their intent to not renew the 30-year lease that has had the DRBA provide management, oversight and significant capital investment at the airport, a lease for which DRBA paid $1 per year. In that vote Morey dissented.
The original lease was signed on June 8, 1999. With that arrangement, DRBA began 25 years of managing the airport property and investing more than $32 million in capital improvements. According to the bid solicitation issued by the county, the DRBA lease expires in May 2028.
The DRBA operates five airports in Delaware and the four southern counties of New Jersey. This relationship with local airports is, according to the DRBA, part of its mission to “revitalize transportation links and promote economic development.”
The lease was coming up for renewal for another 30 years in June 2024. The county’s efforts to end the lease arrangement led to an emergency meeting of the commissioners on June 6, 2024, at which they voted to issue a notice of nonrenewal. According to the statement recently read by Bulakowski, the county issued that notice “with the aim of renegotiating a new lease agreement” with the DRBA.
The statement went on to say that “DRBA has advised the county on multiple occasions that they would not be willing to provide the county with control over additional land at the airport.” The statement says that ending the relationship with the DRBA “opens the door to new opportunities” for the county and places “the county in the best possible position to address some of the most pressing issues facing our residents.”
There has as yet been no detailed public discussion of the county’s plans for the airport land. In an email from Morey to Lindsay dated June 29, Morey argues that the need to reimburse the DRBA more than $32 million for capital improvements at the termination of the relationship creates an obligation on the county to engage in more public discussion of its actions.
In the email Morey says, “When the financial implications are so significant, our taxpayers deserve to be informed and that every reasonable ‘stone’ be turned to achieve the best possible outcome for them and their families.”
It is clear from the exchange of several emails to which the Herald has access that Morey feels strongly that his experience overseeing the relationship with the DRBA for more than a decade, his 50 years of direct aviation experience from the county airport and his “significant business experience” all constitute attributes that could be valuable in any negotiations with the DRBA. He adds in an email, “I need to be part of the team to do so.”
But Morey feels frozen out of the team working on the future of the airport even though he has unique credentials to bring to the effort. He says his attempts to contribute to this decision-making have been motivated by a desire to achieve “the county board’s goals for the airport and not a situation in which I am in disagreement with the county and/or working against the [bid solicitation], generally, or for any clearly de minimis personal reasons.”
The issue of greater public transparency involving a range of the commissioners’ decision-making has been repeatedly brought to the board’s attention during public comment at commission meetings.
The airport’s future is not the only issue over which Morey’s arguments for greater transparency have angered his colleagues, who feel the board is already transparent in its deliberations. Another such debate ensued over new limitations imposed by the board on public comment at meetings.
The desire to enhance public involvement in an important decision about the county’s finances and the future of a critical asset was the motivating force behind the Herald’s invitation to key players to meet with the paper’s editorial board. Morey agreed to the meeting, but Lindsay opposed it as a potential violation of the Open Public Meetings Act and of procurement law.
Attempts to alter the structure of the meeting to meet these objections did not change things, and the meeting never occurred. What remained was a concern that the county commissioners might only truly involve the public when they were prepared to vote on the bids, making the vote essentially a fait accompli.
There is no evidence on when the board plans to vote to award the air-side operations contract to another entity. There has also been no attempt by the board to engage the public in a discussion of the airport’s future prior to making such an award. One factor that created some concern was that Bulakowski read Desiderio’s statement on June 24 only after the public comment period had closed for that meeting.
The Herald’s efforts in the matter are aimed at ensuring that public discussion occurs while that public input can still have an influence on events, and not after a decision is made or is scheduled for an imminent vote in such a way that public input is minimized.
Contact the reporter, Vince Conti, at vconti@cmcherald.com.
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