December 5, 2024 WALL TOWNSHIP – The county says it will attempt to make a third site visit to Monmouth Executive Airport, after their aviation consultant complained they were restricted by its owner to “just two hours to inspect more than three miles of runway and taxiway, in the middle of the night.” Merchant Aviation, a Summit-based aviation firm, has been appointed by the Monmouth County Board of Commissioners to evaluate whether New Jersey’s largest privately-owned airport could be better run and maintained under public ownership by the county. Alan Antaki, who owns the 740-acre complex off Route 34 — which has a longer runway than LaGuardia Airport in New York — said through an attorney that he has no intention of selling his property for any price. Antaki and his legal team said that Commissioner Director Thomas A. Arnone, director of the Board of Commissioners, has already invoked eminent domain in forcing his way onto Antaki’s private property for the county’s latest airport site visit on Nov. 22. An earlier visit last spring included Arnone and Monmouth County Sheriff Shaun Golden, who is also chairman of the Monmouth County GOP. “Upon receiving a number of reports concerning the airport’s safety, it became our duty to ensure it is in top shape for all who use it,” Arnone said in a statement this week. “If the property owner has nothing to hide, our experts would have been granted the time needed to properly assess the property. Our team complied with all of the property owner’s requirements, and we hope next time, he’ll comply with ours.” Matt Dolan, an attorney representing Antaki, said the county has no jurisdiction over airport operations or airport safety. “That is the province of the New Jersey Department of Transportation or — in some cases — the Federal Aviation Administration,” Dolan said. In fact, the state Transportation Department just licensed the airport for another year after recently completing its annual inspection of the complex and its two runways, Dolan said. Read the full story at Asbury Park Press web site here.
