In Municipal Airport news, the
town will likely take ownership of the newly completed medical
helicopter hangar in about a week, Town Solicitor Brian Howell said at
this week’s Town Council Meeting.
The town is bonding $1.2 million
to buy a hangar recently built by a private company for the State Police
SouthStar aeromedical helicopter. It also includes living quarters for
medical staff and pilots who must be there 24 hours a day, seven days a
week.
Virtua has a three-year contract
with Hammonton Hangars to pay $8,470 per month rent for the new hangar,
which it would instead pay to the town. Since the bond payment would be
about $7,342, it would leave a positive cash flow of about $1,128 per
month, Mayor Steve DiDonato has said.
Virtua provides medical staffing for the helicopter and has a grant to pay for a home base for the craft, he said.
The town stepped in to buy the
hangar in June, when it was almost completed and a subcontractor alleged
that developer Hammonton Hangars LLC and general contractor United
Concrete, of Vineland, failed to pay prevailing wages on the job —
equivalent to union wages.
Towns are supposed to pay prevailing wages, but this was a private company building on town land.
Towns are supposed to pay prevailing wages, but this was a private company building on town land.
When it appeared the state was
siding with the subcontractor, the town decided to buy the building, pay
the prevailing wages and avoid a legal fight, Howell has said. The
builder didn’t have the resources to do that, he said.
DiDonato said the town guaranteed
Hammonton Hangars’s loan and had the right to buy the finished product
for $998,000 as part of the initial agreement. Since paying prevailing
wages added about $162,000 to the cost of the building, the town added
that amount to the purchase price, as well as a $15,000 change order, he
said.
Contact: 609-272-7219
Twitter @MichelleBPost
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