by Larry Chowning –
After an hour-long closed session on Tuesday, June 7, the Middlesex County Board of Supervisors (MCBS) voted to obtain air easements for Hummel Field airport in Topping over two homes which might require condemnation.
The board voted 5-0 to obtain “air space easements by all legal means to include but not limited to condemnation,” said County Attorney Heather Lewis.
Airport Attorney Mark Flynn told supervisors that the realignment of Hummel Field’s runway requires obtaining aviation easements over several properties near the airport. He said that two property owners “absolutely” refused payment for the easements over their properties.
“I told them that if they go the condemnation route the judge may give them less money than what I was offering right then,” he said.
Before the board went into closed session, one of the landowners, Chris Putt, spoke at the second public comment period. He said, “I don’t want those planes flying over my house,” said Putt.
“It is a safety thing for me and my family,” he said. “If I had a guarantee they are not going to fly over my house, I would agree to it.”
“Not all pilots are bad but some of them coming off the airstrip hot dog it and fly right over our house,” he said. “Those that do it don’t care about my family’s safety.”
Flynn was instructed by the board to find a way to obtain the easements as soon as possible as not to delay the realignment project.
