Airport board approves $10 million project

A new project was approved for Chicago Executive Airport Wednesday despite some attempts to have the lease agreement vote delayed for 30 days.

Brigadoon Aviation will be joining the airport, co-owned by Wheeling and Prospect Heights, with a fixed-base operation, or a service center designed for airplanes and pilots.

Ken Ross, who has North American Jet, a charter flight and maintenance company, already at the airport, is behind the new venture. The $10 million plan will take up about 5 acres on the east end of Chicago Executive, at the southeast corner of Tower Road near Milwaukee Avenue.

"We think we're more than capable of putting a first-class facility in this airport," he said.

Besides a self-fueling station, the site will include hangars, aircraft maintenance, welcome center and special provision for very light jets, which Ross said will increase in production over the next several years.

While the board approved a lease agreement with Brigadoon, Ross's proposal has been in the middle of a tussle between Wheeling and Prospect Heights.

On Tuesday night, when the two towns had a joint meeting, Prospect Heights officials said they wanted the airport board to hold voting on the lease for a month. Alderman Dolly Vole made that formal request to the Chicago Executive board Wednesday.

The Prospect Heights council said that since the proposal has only been discussed in executive session, it had not been informed of the development until just recently.

However, Wheeling officials said they have been kept informed of the possibility by their representatives on the airport board.

On Wednesday, airport board member Luis Mendez, who is one of Prospect Heights' representatives, asked for a delay to give him more time to get to know the project, but that was not voted in by the majority.

"We've been talking about this very subject for a long time under a confidentiality agreement," board member David Kolssak said. He said the board is well within its boundaries to vote on the proposal even if Prospect Heights does not feel informed about the project.

Kolssak, Mark Rooney, Darlene Ahlstedt and Larry Widmer ultimately approved the lease, with Mendez abstaining and Pam Arrigoni casting a negative vote.