Wantage hires airport consultant

Wantage will pay $80,000 to a Florida consultant to help the township figure out if it ought to buy Sussex Airport. The study by Ron Price, owner of QED Airport & Aviation Consultants, will be paid through a grant from the state Department of Transportation. Price beat out a New York consultant who had bid nearly $140,000 to do the six-month study. Price works alone; the other firm has about 30 staffers. Price told the Wantage Township Committee at its March 26 meeting that he has 37 years of aviation industry experience and has provided consulting services to airports throughout the country. Last year he did a similar study on behalf of Camden County. Although the township’s grant to conduct the study could afford up to $150,000, there will be no excess returned to the township. The grant program works on a reimbursement basis. As Price sends invoices to Wantage Township, those bills will be forwarded to the state for payment from the grant, said Wantage Township Administrator Jim Doherty. If, however, Wantage ends up pursuing any other studies related to the possible purchase, the remainder of that original grant should be available, Doherty said.