=20 ---------------------------------------------------------------------- This article was sent to you by someone who found it on SFGate. The original article can be found on SFGate.com here: http://www.sfgate.com/cgi-bin/article.cgi?file=3D/news/archive/2004/12/14/s= tate0135EST0248.DTL --------------------------------------------------------------------- Tuesday, December 14, 2004 (AP) LA City Council OK's $11 billion airport remodeling (12-14) 22:35 PST LOS ANGELES (AP) -- The City Council gave final approval Tuesday for an $11 billion plan to remodel Los Angeles International Airport and to spend $500 million on projects and training for surrounding communities and airport employees. The 12-3 vote would allow the work to begin as early as spring if the project is also approved by the Federal Aviation Administration, which is expected to decide early next year. "This plan will enhance the safety of the millions of passengers who move through the airport every year," said Mayor Jim Hahn. Part of the project includes spending $500 million to reduce traffic and noise, provide job training for airport and aviation employees, and conduct studies to determine the health impacts of airport operations on nearby residents. In exchange, more than 20 community groups and the Lennox and Inglewood school districts agreed not to sue the city over the airport project. The county Board of Supervisors, however, has decided to sue over concer= ns about the plan's security measures and future growth in cargo and passengers. The first stage of the massive project would cost nearly $3 billion to move a runway, add gates to the international terminal, and build a consolidated rental car center, transit hub and employee parking lot. Demolition of three terminals and construction of a central passenger check-in facility would come in the next phase only after further study because of a compromise between Hahn and City Councilwoman Cindy Miscikowski and others. That stage would cost nearly $8 billion. Council members Bernard Parks and Antonio Villaraigosa, both mayoral candidates, and Jack Weiss voted against the plan. They said it would make passengers vulnerable to terrorism by concentrating them in one facility. ---------------------------------------------------------------------- Copyright 2004 AP