CHAPEL HILL - The Orange County Board of Commissioners has drafted a letter to UNC Chancellor Holden Thorp asking for more information before it appoints its members to an airport authority.

The General Assembly passed a bill last summer authorizing a 15-member board to locate, build and operate a general aviation airport in Orange County. It will have four members each picked by the university's board of trustees and the UNC Health Care system, two by the legislature, three by the county, one by Chapel Hill and one by Carrboro and Hillsborough on a rotating basis.

In a draft letter, commissioners Chairman Barry Jacobs notes the university plans to name its members in early January and expects the county to name its members in late January.

The county can't do that, Jacobs says, until it knows a few things:

•Who will determine the authority's scope of work? For example, will the panel still be looking at sites a certain distance from campus, as consultants did in 2005, or at sites anywhere in Orange County?

•How will the authority be initially funded? The county has a responsibility to taxpayers, the letter says. If the airport falls under the university, will UNC offer payments in lieu of property taxes like it has proposed for the Carolina North campus to address local public safety and tax revenue interests?

•The county is committed to transparency and "robust public participation," the letter says. It notes the university has also said it wants to create a fair process.

"Does that mean the decisions and operations of the authority will be susceptible to influence by concerned residents in public hearings and by other means, and that full, relevant information will be made available to the public in a timely manner?"

Jacobs says the county can't become a full participant until the university answers these questions. The county commissioners are scheduled to discuss the letter during their regular meeting at 7:30 p.m. Tuesday in the Southern Human Services Center, 2501 Homestead Road in Chapel Hill.