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Report on Base Airport Is Called Incomplete : Land use: The manager of John Wayne Airport says the study, which disputes an earlier finding, should not be analyzed until it is finished.

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TIMES STAFF WRITER

John Wayne Airport Manager Jan Mittermeier said Sunday that a draft of a report stating there is little demand for an international airport at El Toro Marine Corps Air Station is incomplete and should not be analyzed until it is finished.

A Dec. 2 document found that a commercial airport at El Toro would not necessarily generate demand for passenger and cargo service in Orange County. The report by Leigh Fisher Associates was commissioned by the county Board of Supervisors and had not been made public.

“That report is in draft form and hasn’t been finalized,” Mittermeier said. “There’s a lot of work yet to be done, so I can’t comment on it because I don’t know how accurate it is. I don’t know what methodology they used and how they got from A to Z.”

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Mittermeier said consultants put the project on hold after the county filed for bankruptcy. She did not know if a final report ever will be released.

“Everything got held up in the bankruptcy because payments got held up,” Mittermeier said.

The study, which relied on optimistic forecasts for passenger and cargo demands, predicted only modest increases through the next three decades in passenger and cargo service at local airports, including a commercial airport at the Marine base.

The consultants’ findings contradict a 1993 study by the Southern California Assn. of Governments (SCAG), which found that El Toro could be a very viable commercial airport once the military abandons the facility under the nationwide base closure program.

“I have not attempted to compare it to the SCAG report because it’s a preliminary report,” Mittermeier said. “I don’t want to come to a conclusion or compare it to an earlier report until a final draft is done.”

County Chief Executive Officer William J. Popejoy said he agrees with Mittermeier that the report should be completed before it is publicly released and discussed.

“My understanding is that it’s far from being complete and has assumptions that miss the mark,” he said. “So this is probably something that should be professionally completed before we look at it.”

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But Supervisor Marian Bergeson, who has not seen a draft of the report, said she believes the board should not ignore any information, even if it is preliminary.

“I think every bit of information should be utilized to try to build a database,” said Bergeson, whose district includes El Toro. “The more information the better. We need to give full consideration of any material we have. Since the issue has been raised, questions will probably arise about the status of the report.”

Although county supervisors haven’t been given a copy of the early findings, Mittermeier said she will supply it at their request.

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