The Will County Board has approved its annual request for federal funds in the amount of $91.5 million. That number is up substantially from last year when the county sought $26 million.

The funding request contains important, and in fact, priority projects that would be paid for with a portion of federal dollars. They include road construction, interchanges, water studies, and even initiatives in the sheriff's department and for mental health program needs.

According to a county press release, Lee Ann Goodson (R-Plainfield), who chairs the Legislative and Policy Committee, said her committee has worked hard to receive input from various county agencies in order to identify these priorities. Goodson points out, despite the challenging economic climate, the county still needs to meet critical needs more than ever.

“Many of these funding requests are aimed at quality of life issues for our residents and serve to maintain and improve their health, safety, and welfare,” said Goodson.  “We are optimistic Washington will respond to our requests and we will see many of these projects completed in a timely fashion.”

One of the projects requested annually that certainly  does not fit the criteria to which Goodson refers is the county's perennial request that simply falls automatically into the list every year — a request for funds for a multi-jurisdictional land use plan for the South Suburban Airport.

This marks the sixth consecutive year the county has included the multi-jurisdictional plan in its budget.

Despite no forward movement on the project, the request remains on auto-pilot.

Despite the fact that the project remains stalled in the pre-master plan phase since the first consultant's report was approved in 1988, Will County wants to continue the planning process for land management around it.

The request involves a development plan devised years ago by Will County along with the Villages of Beecher, Crete, Peotone, Monee, and University Park. At that time, the mayors of the towns were holding closed-door meetings to come up with a workable plan they could all agree upon. The mayors' meetings resulted in legislation that has also stalled.

How much of a priority can it be to plan for a project that may not occur? Is a land use plan for a mythical airport as important as the reconstruction of the Weber Road and Interstate 55 interchange in Romeoville, Laraway Road corridor improvements through parts of Joliet, New Lenox, and Frankfort, and reconstruction of Bell Road at 143rd, which are also in the county's request for funding?

Is the airport plan as important as the DuPage River flood study or improvements to Fiddyment Creek?

Is it more important than equipping the Sheriff’s Office with an Integrated Criminal Justice Information System for $690,000 to enhance organizational and operational needs?

Is the airport plan as important as the $300,000 needed for in-car cameras for 65 patrol cars?

Is it more important than the Health Department's Mentally Ill and Substance Abuse Program which is seeking $500,000 for the Health Department’s Program?

Is it more important than an Economic Development Planning Initiative focused on the freight transportation industry in the county for $350,000?

And why don't any of the county board members question its importance?