Four Towns Unify Link To Scott Air Base
Purpose Is To Support Scott AFB And MidAmerica Airport
O'Fallon, Illinois (May 29, 2005) -- Belleville has the Belle-Scott Committee and St. Clair County has the Leadership Council of Southwest Illinois. Now, O'Fallon, Mascoutah, Shiloh and Lebanon will have the Scott MidAmerica Leadership Council.
The proposed new council was an idea hatched by Mayor Gary Graham and Mascoutah Mayor Jerry Daugherty, said O'Fallon City Administrator Walter Denton, and will "give the communities around the base a unified voice in helping the area grow and dealing with the impacts of the base."
As its name implies, the council is designed to give its members -- O'Fallon, Mascoutah, Lebanon and Shiloh -- a voice in matters concerning Scott Air Force Base and MidAmerica Airport.
O'Fallon City Council is expected to vote June 6 on a resolution approving the intergovernmental agreement establishing the group.
City finance director Dean Rich unveiled the idea at the aldermanic Finance Committee meeting last week.
"The first purpose is to support Scott and MidAmerica," he said. "The cities closest to the base will get together to talk about it."
O'Fallon aldermen seemed to like the idea.
Ward 6 Alderman Ned Drolet said, "In dealing with the county, speaking with one voice makes more sense."
The four mayors will make up the council's board of directors and will meet regularly. The council will be a nonprofit group with no governmental authority. Any actions or expenditures would have to be approved by the member municipality councils.
Ward 2 Alderman Ed True asked why Belleville wasn't included as a member. Rich answered that Belleville has the Belle-Scott Committee.
Denton said that Belleville or other communities could become members of the council with the approval of the four charter members.
Information provided by the Belleville News-Democrat
Georgia Hillyer Article © the Belleville News-Democrat
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