"Nine prospects left for executive director of Central Illinois Regional Airport"

Friday, March 11, 2005

Nine prospects left for executive director of Central Illinois Regional
Airport
Board screens finalists after paring list of 71
BY CARRIE KEPPLE
The Peoria (IL) Journal Star


BLOOMINGTON - Of the 71 applicants to be the new executive director of the
Central Illinois Regional Airport, nine remained until Thursday night.
In a closed session, the airport authority board screened the top nine
prospects and chose four to five to keep for the last round of interviews.

A committee made up Bloomington City Manager Tom Hamilton; Normal City
Manager Mark Peterson; McLean County Administrator John Zeunik; Dave Colee,
who oversees travel at State Farm Insurance Cos.; and John Visel, a private
pilot and president of the local chapter of the Experimental Aircraft
Association; will interview the last applicants and make suggestions in the
next few weeks.

The airport authority board will conduct the final interview, and a
selection will be made sometime before May, according to the airports
interim director, David Anderson.

Applicants came from all over including California, New York, Texas,
Minnesota, one from Italy and one from Canada, Anderson said.

The salary range for the position is $105,000 to $140,000 annually.

The airport's former executive director, Mike La Pier, resigned in November
after nearly two decades in the job to do private consulting.

A lawsuit filed in January by a private airline, Image Air, operating at the
airport will be heard again in court today. A McLean County judge is slated
to make a ruling on Image Air's request to halt the construction of a new
incoming private operator, Platinum Aviation, for safety concerns.

The board heard a report from the airport's deputy director of security and
special Projects, Don Schneider, regarding the safety concerns.

Schneider reported the location of the building to be constructed is not a
safety hazard, but the parking of planes could be.

The board suggested only small planes be parked at a hangar near Platinum's
location, and its larger aircrafts be parked west of its main building.


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