State stall leaves Bult Field in holding pattern

State stall leaves Bult Field in holding pattern

by Carol Henrichs

It has been four months and counting. Bult Field remains in a holding pattern.

There has been no inspection of the new runway at Bult Field in Will Township in eastern Will County.

Jim Bult, owner of the revamped general aviation airport has been patient. He has methodically completed all that was required of him, as he awaits the final inspection that will clear his airport for traffic.

Although Illinois Department of Transportation is obliged to perform the final inspection on the runway for which the agency initially issued permits, it appears that IDOT’s Director of Aeronautics Susan Shea is still stalling.

Bult Field is located at the northeast corner of the state’s proposed South Suburban Airport. Plans for the layout of the inaugural airport have had to be altered to accommodate Bult Field.

Though the state has not tried to acquire Bult Field, letters threatening Bult along with other property owners with condemnation, which has not been carried out have been sent.

Every month the state drags its feet, Bult suffers an estimated financial loss of $100,000. That is on top of more than $25 million he has put into the field already.

Bult is concerned that some of his tenants who have found another place to house their aircraft during construction, will simply not come back even when the airport does open.

Not only is Bult concerned about his financial losses, but the same can be said for Will Township. The beleaguered township has taken the brunt of IDOT’s 39-year dream to build an airport in Will Township.

The state’s landbanking efforts have taken property tax off the tax rolls, with many taxing bodies affected, but none so much as in Will Township.

Several years ago an ambitious effort to provide assistance to Will Township and the other taxing bodies affected, resulted in a law sponsored by State Sen. Debbie Halvorson. It provided some relief to the taxing bodies through money collected by the rental of state-owned property. The actions of IDOT in recent months to destroy so many potentially rentable homes have rendered that law nearly useless.

Township Supervisor Brian Cann and Assessor Stella Zajakala have hoped to recoup some of those losses by the property taxes Bult Field would generate.

Zajakala wrote a letter to Gov. Rod Blagojevich asking him to “light some fire” under the people who are responsible for the inspection process.

Zajakala was critical of the state for not giving Bult the necessary paperwork to back up his privately funded venture.

“This puts all the taxing bodies involved in a poor position because as the assessor, it is my responsibility to properly value and place this on the assessment roles.” She explained that she couldn’t do that until the final inspection is filed.

“Just like on homes, we wait until the certificate of occupancy is issued,” she said.

She has received a response from Acting Transportation Secretary Milton Sees.

Sees, who replaced Secretary Tim Martin who resigned in February, responded, telling Zajakala that Bult has finally provided detailed plans of his improvements. Sees pointed out that the paperwork had been requested on several previous occasions. He said the agency is in the process of reviewing the plans.

According to Bult, those plans are the same ones he had to submit to get the initial permit.

“IDOT has the plans,” he said.

Cann said he has sent numerous emails and certified letters to Shea.

He too has written to the governor, but with no response.

Finally, Cann said, “Susan Shea responded, saying she ‘did not appreciate all the emails.’”

Cann said he was incensed by the audacity of this public official.

He wrote again.

“I certainly hope you will release Bult Field from bondage soon, so our assessor can process Bult Field and get some very badly needed property taxes into Will Township, …” wrote Cann.

In his most recent letter he was critical of the action taken last December to destroy the houses on state-owned property.

“We can’t change what you did in December, but you can act with a sense of urgency on the Bult Field inspection, so we can earn our portion of property taxes that will be generated from this facility,” he wrote.

“You obviously are uninformed about township operations, or are insensitive to our mission,” he charged, calling her decisions in Will Township “reckless, intimidating, and extremely expensive for the taxpayers of Illinois and the local taxing bodies.”

He called her action “inexcusable.”

But he concluded by stating, “You have an opportunity to help eastern Will County by doing the final inspection of Bult Field and letting Jim Bult fly.”


Posted by ch at April 5, 2007
Categories: Peotone airport, Bult Field, IDOT, South Suburban Airport

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