FAA Goes after Chicago on Meigs

bryan chaisone wrote:

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

I have to disagree and agree with the other poster who said this will
only encourage others. If they can get out of having to return all of
the federal airport funds and close and unwanted airport for a mere $30K
fine, then this is a great deal for them.

The Feds should have either went after Daley in a big way or not at all.


Matt

"Matt Whiting" wrote in message
...
bryan chaisone wrote:

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

I have to disagree and agree with the other poster who said this will only
encourage others. If they can get out of having to return all of the
federal airport funds and close and unwanted airport for a mere $30K fine,
then this is a great deal for them.


Do you think this encourages others more than doing nothing does?



The Feds should have either went after Daley in a big way or not at all.


The Feds should follow the law. If the law allows only a fine of $33,000.00
then that is what they should pursue.

Personally, I hope Daley gets thrown off the platform on the El tracks
and hits the third rail.

"Dave Stadt" wrote in message
...

"Peter Duniho" wrote in message
...
"Jay Honeck" wrote in message
news:FSm7d.303820$Fg5.269114@attbi_s53...
Gee, $33K? About the price of a used Cherokee 140?

Big whoop. Ten parking meters on Wacker Drive make that in six
months...

I'm heartened that the FAA is closing the door after the cows have
escaped,
and sincerely hope that King Daley is quaking in his boots.

You must have missed the part where Chicago could be on the hook for as
much
as $6 million total (not counting the $33K penalty for violating the
30-day
notice requirement).

The 30-day notice requirement violation is a relatively minor
infraction,
and as such wouldn't justify a very large penalty. Diverting funds
illegally is a much more egregious violation, and carries with it a much
greater penalty.

I think it's great news that the FAA is taking action against Chicago,
and
I
found nothing negative in the posted press release at all.

Pete


Like any of it is going to stick. $33K, $1.5 Million or $6 million its all
peanuts to the city of chicago. Where else can a mayor buy his wife a
lakefront park for that kind of money?

Really. As I recall the recently finished Millennium Park was around $375
million OVER budget and 4 years late. I can only guess what this new park
will cost, and anything the FAA fines them will be a drop in the bucket.

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

"Larry Dighera" wrote in message
...
On Sat, 02 Oct 2004 00:13:45 GMT, Orval Fairbairn
wrote in
::

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.


If true, Daley's diversion of FAA Airport Improvement funds to
demolish Meigs Airport is such an arrogant misuse of federal grant
money for the exact opposite of the use it is intended, that it again
publicly confirms the Chicago mayor's blatant disregard for legal
justice. Wouldn't it be nice if that were an impeachable offence?
Perhaps the folks that got 'Aaahnod' elected in California could be
persuaded to mount a similar campaign to RECALL DALEY.

"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.

For what it is worth, I just received the following notice:

YEEEEEEEEEEHHHAAAAAAAAHHHHHH!!!!!!!

Howard? Howard Dean? Is that you?

We've been WONDERING what you've been up to lately!

;-)
--
Jay Honeck
Iowa City, IA
Pathfinder N56993
www.AlexisParkInn.com
"Your Aviation Destination"

"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?

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.