Aviation Chairman Praises Will County 
Airport Plan To Governor Blagojevich

Mica says plan ‘provides necessary foundation’

Will County Executive Larry Walsh recently expressed his appreciation for federal support of the county’s airport plan from the chairman of the Subcommittee on Aviation.

“When Chairman John Mica was here last month, he was highly complimentary of the work Will County has done in preparation for the airport near Peotone,” said Walsh, an Elwood Democrat. “He has followed his visit up with a letter to Gov. Blagojevich, praising a plan that both impressed him and provides what he calls, ‘the necessary foundation.”

In a letter sent to the governor earlier in the month, Mica reiterated how impressed he was during the Jan. 17 briefing hosted at the County Office Building by Walsh, Rep. Jerry Weller, R-Morris, and Jim Roolf from the Will County Center for Economic Development.

“The briefing provided an overview of the plans for the development, construction and governance of the South Suburban Airport set forth by Will County and the coalition of businesses and labor unions in the region,” he wrote. “I believe their plans provide the necessary foundation for an airport plan that encompasses strong local support. Their plans provide for an airport authority with local control and regional representation, an important component as it is the lives of the people of Will County who will be affected most from the day-to-day operation of South Suburban Airport.Jim Roolf, chairman of the Will County Airport Coalition, from left, Will County Executive Larry Walsh, Representative John Mica, R-Florida., chairman of the House Subcommittee on Aviation, and Representative Jerry Weller, R-Morris, discuss county plans for a South Suburban Airport at a meeting held at the County Office building last month.

Walsh said Mica had been impressed by what he heard at the briefing. “The chairman said it was the most comprehensive plan for a greenfield site that he had ever seen. He also said he thought a contribution of $200 million from the airport improvement fund – double what the county had even considered receiving – was a small investment in comparison to the benefit to the national air transportation system.”