FAA Goes after Chicago on Meigs

"ISLIP" wrote in message
...

Daley wants to expand O'hare using Federal tax dollars.


That should not happen. The City of Chicago cannot close one perfectly good
public airport and expect federal funds to expand another one.

"Steven P. McNicoll" wrote in message
ink.net...

"ISLIP" wrote in message
...

Daley wants to expand O'hare using Federal tax dollars.


That should not happen. The City of Chicago cannot close one perfectly
good
public airport and expect federal funds to expand another one.

Wanna bet.

"Dave Stadt" wrote in message
m...

That should not happen. The City of Chicago cannot close one
perfectly good public airport and expect federal funds to expand
another one.


Wanna bet.


Okay. The City of Chicago cannot close one perfectly good public airport
and reasonably expect federal funds to expand another one. Better?

Not so. The fine is the maximum allowed at the time. Since then the
Meigs Legacy provision has become law, and the maximum fine goes up to
$10,000/per day and the required notice goes up to 90 days. Nine million
may not have kept Chicago from ripping up Meigs, but there aren't many
cities that can afford that.

On top of that, Meigs is the only airport that had special provisions in
its grant assurances that let them off the hook. Not only would another
airport sponsor risk the larger fines, they'd also be responsible for
paying back AIP grant money, which could me tens of millions of dollars,
or more.

Dave Reinhart


Thomas Borchert wrote:

Orval,

if anything, that fine is an encouragement to other cities wanting to
close their airports. Bad move, IMHO.

--
Thomas Borchert (EDDH)

David Reinhart writes:


On top of that, Meigs is the only airport that had special provisions in
its grant assurances that let them off the hook. Not only would another
airport sponsor risk the larger fines, they'd also be responsible for
paying back AIP grant money, which could me tens of millions of dollars,
or more.

And why did Meigs *not* have this constraint?

--
A host is a host from coast to
& no one will talk to a host that's close........[v].(301) 56-LINUX
Unless the host (that isn't close).........................pob 1433
is busy, hung or dead....................................20915-1433

David Lesher wrote:

And why did Meigs *not* have this constraint?

According to AOPA articles, "In 1994, Daley announced plans to close the airport and
build a park in its place on Northerly Island. He could do that because of a unique
FAA grant agreement that gave him an "escape clause." While most federal grants to
airports specify that the airport must remain open 20 years, the Meigs grant
obligated the city to maintain the airport only for the length of its lease for the
land. Northerly Island was owned by the Chicago Park District, which refused to renew
the airport lease in 1996. Without the federal obligation in place, the airport
became private property."

George Patterson
If a man gets into a fight 3,000 miles away from home, he *had* to have
been looking for it.

That's certaily the "how". The "why" is political pressure from the biggest political
machine left in the country.

Dave Reinhart


"G.R. Patterson III" wrote:

David Lesher wrote:

And why did Meigs *not* have this constraint?

According to AOPA articles, "In 1994, Daley announced plans to close the airport and
build a park in its place on Northerly Island. He could do that because of a unique
FAA grant agreement that gave him an "escape clause." While most federal grants to
airports specify that the airport must remain open 20 years, the Meigs grant
obligated the city to maintain the airport only for the length of its lease for the
land. Northerly Island was owned by the Chicago Park District, which refused to renew
the airport lease in 1996. Without the federal obligation in place, the airport
became private property."

George Patterson
If a man gets into a fight 3,000 miles away from home, he *had* to have
been looking for it.

David Lesher wrote:

David Reinhart writes:



On top of that, Meigs is the only airport that had special provisions in
its grant assurances that let them off the hook. Not only would another
airport sponsor risk the larger fines, they'd also be responsible for
paying back AIP grant money, which could me tens of millions of dollars,
or more.


And why did Meigs *not* have this constraint?


You really don't know much about Chicago do you? :-)

This is the corruption capital of the US. I'm sure some money greased
the right palms...


Matt

In article ,
Thomas Borchert wrote:

Orval,

if anything, that fine is an encouragement to other cities wanting to
close their airports. Bad move, IMHO.


But other cities have not had their obligations lifted, the way Chicago
did.

Better late than never. A little is better than nothing.

Bryan "The Monk" Chaisone

Orval Fairbairn wrote in message ...
For what it is worth, I just received the following notice:



FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE


APA 35
October 1, 2004
Contact: Greg Martin or Tony Molinaro
Phone: 202-267-3883 or 847-294-7427

FAA Proposes Legal Action Against City of Chicago¹s Meigs Field Closure

WASHINGTON, DC * The Federal Aviation
Administration (FAA) today announced
that it is taking legal action over
the 2003 closure of Meigs Field which
could result in penalties against the
city of Chicago. The FAA is citing the
agency¹s regulatory responsibility to
preserve the national airspace system
and ensure the traveling public with
reasonable access to airports as the
basis for its action today.

The FAA is proposing a civil penalty
of $33,000, the legal maximum, against
the city and, separately, is
initiating an investigation into
possible violations by the city of its
federal grant assurances and its
airport sponsor obligations.

The $33,000 proposed civil penalty
stems from the city¹s failure to
provide the required 30-day notice to
the FAA of the deactivation of Meigs
Field. The notice requirement is
intended to allow the FAA to study
proposed actions that may affect the
national airspace system prior to the
actions being taken. According to FAA
regulations, a maximum penalty of
$1,100 per day can be assessed for a
violation of this type.

Additionally, the FAA has initiated an
investigation to determine whether the
city improperly diverted $1.5 million
in restricted airport revenues to pay
for demolishing the runway at Meigs
and for its conversion from an airport
into a city park. The city has 30
days to reply to the FAA on these
issues.

The FAA has held several discussions
with representatives of the city to
reach an informal resolution of the
issues, but it will now move forward
with these formal actions to obtain
additional facts. In addition to the
possibility of a civil penalty of
$33,000, the city of Chicago could be
required to return monies to the
O¹Hare Airport Development Fund.
Should the city refuse to return any
improperly diverted revenue to the
Fund, further sanctions are possible,
including a civil penalty of up to
three times the amount of the diverted
funds.

Gary Orpe
A79228
E690190
Certified Virus free by Ed Norton.
All are absolutely free.
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