There are as many airport authorities proposed to govern a new airport south of Chicago, as there once were rural locations on which to build a new airport. That number is three.

In September, 1990 the first airport authority to govern a new airport was proposed – the Kankakee River Valley Area Airport Authority, (KRVAAA) – which was to control any airport built or acquired in Will or Kankakee counties. The Peotone site, as it was known then and which continues to be used to identify the location, was among a list of “green grass” sites being studied as the prime location for a new airport. Others included a site in Kankakee County and a site east of Beecher, straddling the state line.

Never mind the fact that in 1992 a broad-based coalition of policy makers from Illinois, Indiana and the City of Chicago voted against building a new airport in a rural location.

The third airport concept died that year, until two years later it was revived by former Gov. Jim Edgar, who once lived in Park Forest. Ironically, that is one of the communities that co-chairs the Abraham Lincoln National Airport Commission, (ALNAC), the second airport authority designed to govern Peotone. It was created by U.S. Rep. Jesse Jackson, Jr., D-Chicago, who teamed up with northwest suburban officials who have spent decades fighting O’Hare expansion.

The subject of airport authorities surfaced Thursday in Joliet when Will County Board Chairman James Moustis, R-Frankfort suggested that no annual appointments should be made to fill numerous vacancies on the Kankakee River Valley Airport Authority (KRVAAA).

Moustis suggested that it might send a mixed message if Will County appointed members to an airport authority it failed to recognize. It doesn’t seem to matter to him that the KRVAAA was signed into law and that law specifies that appointments to the eight-member board are to be made by the Will and Kankakee County boards.

Moustis is more favorable toward legislation that Will County officials had a hand in writing – legislation to create a new airport authority. The airport authority bill was pushed through the Illinois Senate by Senate Majority Leader and congressional hopeful Debbie Halvorson, D-Crete, but it is mired in the Rules Committee of the Illinois House.

None of these three authorities are viable.

The mere mention of the ALNAC proposal causes Will County officials, local mayors and anyone associated with eastern Will County to bristle.

And despite Will County officials’ hope that Halvorson’s bill will be debated and approved in the fall veto session, the Will County proposal is far from legislative approval, let alone a signature by the governor.

That leaves the KRVAAA, which since its inception has gotten little recognition or respect. At the time it was created, a fierce rivalry was taking place between two Illinois senators – the late Aldo DeAngelis, a Republican and former Sen. Jerry Joyce, a Democrat. Joyce, with the help of former State Rep. Phil Novak, D-Bradley, got the authority approved, but it remained unfunded. Ironically, it is Novak’s replacement State Rep. Lisa Dugan, D-Bradley, who is the sponsor of Halvorson’s bill. She chose to back the new bill rather than to honor the authority created by her predecessor.

The KRVAAA is not without problems. The most recent annual audit revealed that the authority is not in compliance with the Kankakee River Valley Area Airport Authority Act.

According to the audit for the year ended June 30, 2007, the authority did not file its required annual report to the Governor.

The authority had four vacancies, requiring one appointment from the Kankakee County Board and three from the Will County Board. In addition, one term expired at the end of a member’s term and two resignations were received.

One of the members did not file the required bond in the amount of $100,000 with the Secretary of State’s Office. Even the information to the auditor was not received in a timely manner.

In addition to recommending that these infractions be corrected, the audit recommended, “Due to the Authority’s inactivity over the past several years and their inability to maintain eight appointed board members, we recommend the Authority either ensure members are appointed in accordance with the Act or seek legislative remedy.”