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ONTARIO, Calif. - August 21, 2012 -- The Ontario City Council on Tuesday evening unanimously approved a Joint Powers Agreement to create the Ontario International Airport Authority (OIAA) - a key milestone in the drive to return Ontario International Airport (ONT) to local control.
The Ontario City Council also named Council Members Alan D. Wapner and Jim W. Bowman to serve as appointees to the OIAA. They have served on the Council's Aviation Committee since 2010.
San Bernardino County - the other party to the Joint Powers Agreement - is expected to approve the Authority's creation at a meeting of its Board of Supervisors at 10 a.m. Tuesday, August 28, at the County Government Center in San Bernardino.
In addition to the two members representing the Ontario City Council, another member of the OIAA will be County Supervisor Gary Ovitt representing the district in which ONT is located, and two additional members will be prominent community or business leaders located within ONT's air service market of an estimated 7 million residents in a four-county region.
"The independent airport authority we are creating through this Joint Powers Agreement with San Bernardino County is a significant step in ensuring the long-term success of the Ontario Airport," said Wapner. Bowman said, "The entire Southern California region, including Los Angeles, will benefit from the airport being locally controlled by the new authority."
The OIAA is being created as Los Angeles City Administrative Officer Miguel Santana is expected to issue a report in September providing an independent analysis of the feasibility of transferring ONT to local control. His study resulted from a motion by Los Angeles City Council Members Dennis Zine, Bill Rosendahl and Paul Koretz approved by the Council's Trade, Commerce and Tourism Committee on March 20, 2012.
More than 115 governments, organizations and prominent officials from four Southern California counties have endorsed local control of ONT. Nearly two dozen cities in Los Angeles County have joined the coalition. Their endorsements are available for viewing at the official SetONTarioFree.com.
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