"Will official details plan for Peotone airport bill"

Friday, March 30, 2007

Will official details plan for Peotone airport bill
By Dennis Sullivan
The Chicago (IL) Tribune


A Will County official said this week that Illinois legislators are seeking
a strategy to allow a bill protecting the county's interest in a proposed
regional airport near Peotone to succeed without being held hostage to other
legislation.

Matt Ryan, chief of staff to County Executive Larry Walsh, also said that
legislation for a proposed development district has been put on the back
burner. Legislative leaders have advised the county that they might be
unable to move two important pieces of legislation in the same session.

Ryan told a Will County Board committee that sponsors also will use
"legislative maneuvers" to keep the airport authority legislation alive, but
with a low profile, until the final days of the spring session.

"We don't want this to become a chip in any other legislator's proposal out
there," he said.

State Rep. Brent Hassert (R-Romeoville) sponsored a bill to create the South
Suburban Airport Authority Act, which has been assigned to committee.

"We have made some changes in some of the technical provisions of the
Airport Authority Act that now have the blessings of [the Illinois
Department of Transportation]," Ryan added.

Ryan said IDOT, the airport's sponsor, would agree to designate Will County
as co-sponsor.

In February, IDOT submitted a plan to the Federal Aviation Administration
supported by Will County and a competing proposal backed by a group led by
U.S. Rep. Jesse Jackson Jr. (D-Ill.) The FAA wants one plan.

Rick Bryant, executive director of the competing Abraham Lincoln National
Airport Commission, said he has seen only a shell bill with no details so
far. "It's hard to speculate on something that hasn't been made public yet,"
he said.

Bryant, who also is a spokesman for Jackson, has said that the Cook
County-based commission already fills the role of an airport authority.

Ryan said the proposed legislation makes Will County "an active participant
in every stage of development and operation of the airport." Ryan said it
also would increase the FAA's interest in the county's opinions on some
issues.

Ryan said that an airport board would include Cook and Kankakee County
representation but that Will County officials would make up the majority of
the 7-member board.

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