Airport lawsuit?

Hamilton County commissioners agreed today to begin looking for a law firm in case it sues the Cincinnati/Northern Kentucky International Airport over noise complaints.

Commissioner Todd Portune, who gave a speech a week ago at a California aviation noise and air quality symposium, has been pushing for the three-commissioner board to take a stance on airport noise, saying the noise levels actually are higher than the data compiled by airport officials shows.

Last year, more than 100 residents attended a Delhi Township meeting to talk about the noise caused by planes take off from and landing at the airport directly across the Ohio River from western Hamilton County.

Portune wants to know what direction the board of commissioners should take in trying address Hamilton County citizens’ complaints about airport noise.

That’s why George Meinhardt, president and chief executive officer at Star One Realtors and the Hamilton County representative to the Kenton County Airport Board Advisory Committee, addressed commissioners.

Meinhardt said an airport Planning Advisory Committee is compiling information for a master plan that could include a fifth runway by as early as 2015. The fourth officially opened last December.

“I’m opposed to it, a north-south runway – as a Delhian, as a Hamilton Countian. Enough is enough,” Meinhardt told commissioners today.

Commissioners agreed today to began researching law firms specializing in such potential lawsuits, the potential of winning such a suit and how much it would cost.

Portune’s prodding comes after a meeting last fall between commissioners and William T. Robinson III, chairman of the Kenton County Airport Board in which officials – especially Portune – wanted answers about the airport’s future in light of the bankruptcy of Delta Air Lines, the airport’s dominant tenant.

The airport, while in Boone County, is owned by Kenton County. Hamilton County and Cincinnati each appoint an advisory board member who can vote in committee but not during full airport board meetings.