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Local residents wonder exactly what the Illinois Department of Transportation is protecting at its headquarters, just west of Egyptian Trail on Eagle Lake Road. IDOT has spent nearly $1.5 million-$59,399 on fencing, $132,515 on cameras and alarms and 1.3 million for armed security guards-since 2005 for an airport that has yet to be built.
Fox News investigates 1.5 million tax dollars spent on security for a non-existent Peotone airport  Share
Fox News recently visited the local area to do an investigative piece on taxpayer dollars that have been spent on security for an airport that has yet to be approved or built. To date, Fox News reporter Dane Placko said the state has spent nearly $1.5 million on the proposed third airport in Peotone - $59,399 on fencing, $132,515 dollars on cameras and alarms and $1.3 million on private security since 2005. The story aired on Fox Channel 32 news on Oct. 5. Among the local residents interviewed were George Ochsenfeld, president of Shut This Airport Nightmare Down (STAND) and Green Party candidate for 79th District state representative; Judy Ogalla, vice-president of STAND and a candidate in the Republican 40th State Senate District primary; Bruce Hermann, Will Township road commissioner; and Brian Cann, Will Township supervisor. The Illinois Department of Transportation has set up an office on Eagle Lake road, just west of Egyptian Trail, that is surrounded by nine surveillance cameras, motion detectors, flood lights and tall fences topped with razor wire. Mach Security, a private company that employs armed guards, patrols the rural roads surrounding the headquarters. Fox News described the headquarters, saying ''It rises out of the rolling prairie like a federal prison.''
Since the airport hasn't been built or approved, why is all the security needed? ''I imagine they're protecting the properties from coyotes and deer and bluebirds and robins,'' Ochsenfeld told Fox News. Some residents said they felt the security was an intimidation tactic used by the IDOT to convince people that have refused to sell their property to give in and sell it. Ogalla told Fox News: ''To me, they're just threatening us, and that's just an intimidation factor to say 'we're here, we're coming.'' IDOT has already purchased about 2,000 of the 5,225 acres in the footprint of the proposed airport. It recently filed a condemnation suit against the owners of 280 acres in the footprint. The property is two 80-acre plots and a 120-acre plot near the southwest corner of Will Center and Eagle Lake Roads. Richard and Carol Barbour own 200 acres. The other 80-acre parcel is owned by Lois Barbour, Robert Norman and J. Franklin Norman. Neither the security company nor IDOT would agree to be interviewed by Fox News. However, IDOT issued a statement, saying: ''Before the security was in place, vacant homes were burglarized, significant vandalism and violence was occurring... we have seen a drastic reduction of incidents on the property.'' When Fox News interviewed Will County Sheriff Paul Kaupas, he said ''there were only a handful of minor incidents before the security contract was signed.'' Kaupas said he wasn't aware of any violence. The vacant homes have all long since been torn down. Ochsenfeld was not surprised by the price tag taxpayers have doled out for the security system and armed guards. He said he did not know the exact price prior to Fox News' investigation, but knew that it was ''fantastical.'' In comparison to other tax dollars used for the proposed airport, the security costs are actually quite minor. Ochsenfeld said that over $100 million has been spent on consulting fees, studies and other costs associated with developing the airport. He said that former Governor George Ryan also initially allocated $75 million for land acquisition that was later reduced to $60 million. Most recently, Governor Patrick Quinn was able to increase the budget of the IDOT by 100 million to use eminent domain to purchase additional land for the South Suburban Airport, a project that has not yet been approved by the Federal Aviation Administration (FAA). Ochsenfeld said he was glad that Fox News investigated the project and revealed ''the shady dealings involved in the entire project. ''We are urging people to contact the governor (Patrick Quinn) and elected officials to say that we, the citizens of Illinois, are tired of this wasteful spending and want this project shut down,'' said Ochsenfeld. Lynn Dill is a reporter for Russell Publications.
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