FAA grant could help Mt. Prospect, O'Hare coexist

The Mount Prospect village board on Tuesday agreed to apply for a $312,000 Federal Aviation Administration grant to study the southern part of the village, which is nearest to O'Hare International Airport.

If the administration approves the grant request, the village would kick in about $78,000, making the total about $390,000, village official said.

As O'Hare continues to reconfigure its runways and attempts to expand, the grant money is being handed out to villages around the airport to identify improvements that could be made. It pays for planning and research of how a village can best coexist with a nearby airport, officials said.

For instance, part of the money would likely be used to look at annexation of the United Airlines compound near the corner of Busse and Dempster, said Bill Cooney, the village's director of economic development. The money could pay for a consultant that would outline the pros and cons of acquiring the property for the village, he said.

Another possibility would be to study the feasibility and need for soundproofing of buildings from airplane noise. The area is a mix of industrial buildings, businesses and homes, Cooney said.

Another use of the grant money would be to look at designing roadways in the area, which would be impacted by an expanded airport.