---------- Forwarded message ----------From: .... valentine53179 <valentine53179@gmail.com>Date: Jul 29, 2005 1:10 AMSubject: All sides await decision on expansion Daily herald Sue Ter Maat 7-25-05To: il-cook-chicago-L@rootsweb.com, il-cook-palatine-l@rootsweb.com,il-cook-elkgrove-l@rootsweb.com All sides await decision on expansionFAA to soon rule on O"Hare, but legal battles will keep debate alive By Sue Ter MaatDaily Herald Staff WriterPosted Monday, July 25, 2005 Richard Soline's Bensenville house is slated to become a parking lotat O'Hare International Airport. And he's delighted. The city of Chicago wants to buy Soline's home, and he wants to sell it. But a court order obtained by Bensenville and Elk Grove Village, bothvehemently opposed to airport expansion, has stalled his deal for twoyears. So Soline bides his time. He surmises he'll be the proud owner of anew home thanks to the Federal Aviation Administration, which isexpected to render a decision in September, allowing Chicago buysuburban homes and dig up the land for its expanded O'Hare. Assuming the ruling is for O'Hare expansion, as both sides expect,it'll initiate new wave of legal battle maneuvers. Without further legal intervention, no longer will the suburbs be ableto prevent Chicago from buying homes like Soline's after the FAA'sdecision. Also, the state legislature's quick-take rule, allowing Chicago tocondemn property in just three months instead of two years, could betried. Additionally, a state law passed two years ago permitting Chicago totake two Bensenville cemeteries would be tested. While Chicago says it would start work immediately on a proposednorthern runway, the bitterly opposed suburban leaders say they willblock construction in court, throwing their entire legal arsenal atChicago in an effort to prevent it. Still, Chicago remains unfazed. "I would imagine they are working on whatever legal strategy theythink will work," said Roderick Drew, spokesman for the O'HareModernization Program. "But we intend to move forward as soon aspossible and we'll go from there." No rest for the dead In the shadow of landing airplanes, a statue of a girl watches overthe grave of Laura, a 13-year-old who died in April 1898. So old isthe marker, her last name and inscription are unreadable, so what herparents had to say about her is lost forever. Just down the road, a sign put up by the city of Chicago letspassers-by know this cemetery and another one nearby are on borrowedtime. Chicago has proposed a $7.1æbillion project for a western terminal andsix parallel runways, all part of the O'Hare Modernization Program. Additionally, an eastern terminal and associated improvements likerunway patching and baggage security bring the entire project to morethan $14 billion. Chicago needs more than 400 acres, some of which would come from ElkGrove Village and Bensenville. That would mean acquiring more than 500buildings, many of them homes, in Bensenville and about 100 businessesin Elk Grove Village. The St. Johannes and Resthaven cemeteries will be acquired for airportexpansion and the bodies moved. The city says it needs to expand to increase flights and cut delays,which has clogged national airspace since Chicago is in the middle ofthe country and serves as a connecting point. Many expansion opponents believe a key to stopping O'Hare is in theseold, small cemeteries that for more than 100 years have gone largelyunnoticed except by families. The remains of more than 1,500 people lie beneath stone obelisks. Eachmarble headstone is unique, with some reaching more than 10 feet highand weighing many tons. Most are engraved with spirals, flowers andivy wrapping around the surnames of the area's founding families,including the Landmeiers and Busses. Last month, St. Johannes was declared eligible for the NationalRegister of Historic Places, which is administered by the U.S.Department of Interior's National Park Service. The Illinois Historic Preservation Agency is appealing theeligibility, contending the site is not unique enough to qualify. Should the cemetery be found eligible for preservation, that alonewouldn't save the cemetery, since the agency has no authority toprevent a forced move. Yet it could add more leverage to a stalledcourt case. St. John's United Church of Christ in Bensenville, which owns andoperates St. Johannes Cemetery, and the Resthaven CemeteryAssociation, which is affiliated with Methodist and Evangelicalchurches, have sued Chicago in federal court. The case has stalleduntil the FAA's final decision in September is released, which willdetermine the direction of the case. Church members believe bodies must not be moved after interment lestthat ruin the deceased's promised resurrection on the Day ofReckoning, explained Bob Sell, an Arlington Heights resident who hasrelatives buried in St. Johannes. Many of the oldest remains have merged with the ground, so moving themwould be offensive, he said. "From a faith-based perspective, (moving the graves) is trulyimpossible to do," Sell said. Illinois law allows city officials to move cemeteries using eminentdomain — the government tool used to take private property for publicuse. Chicago has moved cemeteries before. About 20,000 bodies were movedfrom Chicago's Lincoln Park to construct the Eisenhower Expressway inthe early 1950s. What makes this case different is the religious nature of thecemeteries and the vehement opposition, said Joe Karaganis, theattorney for the Suburban O'Hare Commission who also is representingthe churches. The Lincoln Park cemetery was a municipal cemetery, Karaganis said.The Bensenville cemeteries are owned and run by churches and thereforemust be afforded legal protection, he said. The O'Hare Modernization Act, which was passed by the Illinoislegislature in 2003, amended the Religious Freedom Restoration Act,giving the city greater authority to move the two cemeteries. Iflegally challenged it won't be allowed to stand, Karaganis said. "It is truly an outrageous law," he said. "They are walking into aconstitutional trap." Not the end Despite the endless differences of opinion, both sides of theexpansion battle agree on at least one point: The FAA will approve theO'Hare expansion plan. This means the ultimate question of O'Hare expansion will be decidedin court, said Elk Grove Village Mayor Craig Johnson. Chicago will be prevented from taking any suburban land until theissues have been considered by judges, he said. Therefore, theultimate question of whether O'Hare will be expanded could take monthsor even years, he said. The expected suburban legal action will stall the process, preventingproperty sales and runway construction, Johnson said. "We will file an injunction either the day of the ruling or maybe inadvance," Johnson said. "We will make sure nothing happens to either town until we get ourfair day in court," he said. Although the FAA will almost certainly approve Chicago's expansionplan, there are enough weak points for attorneys to latch onto in anattempt to stop it, said Joe Schweitermann, DePaul University'sChaddick Institute for Metropolitan Development, which specializes intransportation. In the end, he believes, the project will move forward, but it mightnot be as soon as Chicago would like, he added. "I think the neighboring suburbs have shown they won't go down withouta valiant, last ditch effort," Schweitermann said. "There are legalgrounds here and the lawyers have been very clever in finding thingsto object to, and they have found a sympathetic ear (in the courts)." Late last week, suburban leaders hailed a federal review critical ofthe FAA as ammunition against expansion. The report by U.S. Department of Transportation Inspector GeneralKenneth Mead concluded the FAA has fallen short in its review ofO'Hare expansion in two key areas: Verifying the actual cost of theproject and redesigning national airspace around O'Hare. His report calls into question whether Chicago would receive certainFAA grants, since the requested amount was so large that the reportcalled it "unprecedented." It also concludes the FAA would have to redesign national airspace inthe Great Lakes region, not just in the 40-mile radius around O'Hare,if it wants to truly ease the congestion and delays O'Hare is famousfor. "Once again, independent sources have verified what we have beensaying for years," said Bensenville Village President John Geils."This plan is unsafe, there is no money to build it, it does notrelieve congestion and it will waste scarce federal resources neededto improve the aviation system throughout the United States." Rosemary Andolino, executive director of the O'Hare ModernizationProgram, said there is nothing in the report fatal to expansion,calling it "favorable" toward Chicago. She considers it a review that will ensure the FAA follows properprocedure while it moves the project forward. The city's financialnumbers are solid and officials are confident the project will get thefull funding from the FAA, she said. "The report says that the program needs to be implemented and that theFAA just needs to make sure it's doing its due diligence … and makingsure this program happens in an efficient and expeditious manner,"Andolino said. Tony Molinaro, an FAA spokesman, said the agency is still reviewingChicago's benefit/cost analysis, which will determine how much federalmoney Chicago will receive. A decision on FAA grants is expected by the end of the year, he said.If the FAA completely denies the request, the city will have to findalternative ways to fund the expansion. The FAA can approve part ofthe requested money as well. All of the wrangling means little to Richard Soline, who remains thefirst person on Chicago's list of Bensenville residents who want tosell to the city. He's so sure he'll be purchasing a replacement home, he has beenscouting out new digs in his free time. Despite what others say, he believes he'll be closing on a new housein September. "The FAA is going to approve it," Soline said. "(Elk Grove Village andBensenville) are not going to stop me from getting my new house."