And it's still absolute chaos.
The jet planes are not yet skirting the heads of Oberlin residents, but they're coming closer. A group of residents have banded together to fight the threat of increased air traffic in the Oberlin area.
Last winter, a county proposal to expand the Lorain County Regional Airport runway from 5,000 to 7,000 feet came to the attention of local citizens, who held an open meeting with county commissioners on the subject. Over 130 people gathered in New Russia township in January, and an overwhelming majority were vocal against the proposal.
At the meeting, commissioners promised to keep the citizens informed and involved in the planning process. According to many concerned citizens, they haven't.
Since the summer, a group of citizens has been trying to find out just what is going on with the proposal, but has been a futile struggle.
"This has really revealed a flaw in the county government. Commissioners are not sharing information with others," Oberlin resident Nancy Roth said. "People are very earnest about having the county flourish, but they don't have a clue about long-term environmental issues."
To clear up the questions, citizens have formed a committee to investigate the progress of the county in the expansion. "Citizens Concerned about Airport Expansion" has been meeting monthly since the summer. One of its primary accomplishments has been obtaining the legal alliance of the College, the Oberlin Student Cooperative Association (OSCA) and Kendal at Oberlin in opposition to the airport expansion.
The College, OSCA and Kendal lawyers have drafted letters to the county commission demanding information about the progress, but thus far they have not heard back.
Proponents of the expansion said the expansion will allow the airport to attract cargo jets and thereby bring in revenue to the already economically floundering airport.
Opponents say the expansion will cause significant environmental problems on the wetlands surrounding the airport and the land below the flight path. The cargo jets will also be much louder than the smaller planes the airport supports now.
Kendal resident Ruth Shaeffer is upset about the noise. "I like it at Kendal, but the noise level will be very high especially if they do cargo flights, which are mostly at night," Shaeffer said.
According to the Lorain County Morning Journal, a new port authority was created to oversee the development of the airport and subsequent growth of other industries in response.
In January, the question of the formation of a new port authority was hotly contested. Roth said no new port authority had been created but that commissioners pushing for the new authority were waiting for approval from two other port authorities located on Lake Erie.
Roth said the commissioners have yet to get the OK from the other port authorities, but the Morning Journal said they had. Port Authorities supersede townships in authority. In August of 1998, New Russia township trustees sent a letter to the county commissioners opposing any expansion of the airport runway.
"There must be some backroom wheeling and dealing going on. So far we just don't know anything," Roth said. "According to the commissioners there is no news. According to the newspapers there is."
County commissioner Michael Ross was unavailable for comment.
Students have become involved in the process of opposing the expansion. College sophomore David Lewis is planning a rally next week to publicize the issue.
"I'm very grateful for the student involvement," Roth said.
Copyright © 1998, The Oberlin Review.
Volume 127, Number 11, December 4, 1998
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