Suit over Lake in the Hills airport expansion settled

A settlement agreement thought dead just a few weeks ago found new life Monday as Lake in the Hills and a neighbor of the village's airport ended almost three years of legal fighting over expansion plans.

McHenry County Judge Michael Caldwell formally approved the deal, under which the village agrees to pay the Athans Co. $780,000 for a three-quarter-acre plot necessary to meet Federal Aviation Administration standards.

The settlement comes on the morning attorneys for both sides were scheduled to begin picking jurors for a trial on the dispute.

The deal not only avoids a trial, but also the possibility of time-consuming appeals from the losing side, village attorney Michael Smoron said.

"It took a little longer than we hoped, but the village is glad to have a settlement," he added.

Athans attorney Bill Ryan was not immediately available for comment.

The agreement ends litigation begun Aug. 29, 2007, when the village filed an eminent domain suit to gain ownership of the Athans parcel on the north side of the airport. The village said it needed the land as part of its $23 million airport improvement plan that included the realignment of Pyott Road and widening the area between the airport's single runway and its taxiway.

In return for the $780,000 payment, the village secured the property as well as an easement guaranteeing Athans will not build any structures or obstructions on the company's remaining land there. Athans will maintain a private taxiway to the airport property, but pay the village a fee if the access is put to a commercial use such as a charter service, Smoron said.

The agreement, Smoron said, essentially is the same as one both sides walked away from late last month.