CHAPEL HILL - The co-sponsor of the state bill that authorized a new airport authority says the university told lawmakers what it wanted and he supported it to help sick children.

"It's an incredibly important program for the health and well being of the state," said Sen. Richard Stevens, a Cary Republican. Stevens served on the UNC Board of Trustees for eight years before entering the legislature. 'There are thousands of doctor visits in North Carolina that would not happen but for the AHEC program."

The airport authority language was inserted in Senate Bill 1925, an annual bill authorizing a list of self-liquidating construction projects on the UNC campus. Self-liquidating projects have a funding source other than the state, such as a dormitory that charges students rent or a stadium that has a private donor. Stevens sponsored the bill with Sen. John Kerr.

"The university approached us and said. 'Would you also include in this bill this provision for the airport authority?' " Stevens said.

"It came from the [UNC system] president's office, so it would have been Andy Willis, vice president for governmental affairs," Stevens said. "I think he e-mailed me the draft language they recommended. Our staff looked at that; they do that all the time. Our staff actually put the language in bill form."

It's common for interest groups to submit potential bill language to state lawmakers.

Since the original bill had already been introduced, Stevens made a motion for a substitute bill to consider the airport provision and other changes. The substitute bill then moved through the legislature.

The airport bill authorizes the UNC Board of Governors to establish a 15-member panel to site, build and operate a general aviation airport in Orange County. Eight of the members will be picked by the UNC Board of Trustees or the UNC Health Care System.

The bill has mobilized rural residents who fear their land could be taken, the county's environment degraded or their quality of life disrupted by a new airport. Many are especially upset that the bill gives the authority the power of eminent domain, the ability to acquire private land for a public purpose.

"I'm not a big advocate of eminent domain," Stevens said. "However when you're building a runway -- let's say you're building a 7,500 foot runway, an 8,000 foot runway -- it would be next to impossible to build that runway if you had a property owner in the middle of it who refused to sell."

The AHEC program accounts for about a quarter of the flights out of Horace Williams Airport, The News & Observer reported earlier this year after reviewing public records.

In 2007-08, AHEC had 1,281 MedAir landings, or round trips, program director Tom Bacon said Monday. The fleet's six planes can carry three or five passengers each, not including the pilot.

All told, there were 4,499 "person flights," again not including pilots, Bacon said. Of those flights, 2,696, or 59.9 percent, were for clinic visits, he said.

Another 1,091 flights were for administrative purposes, 577 were for continuing education, 122 were for official functions such as travel by the chancellor, and 13 were for technical assistance.

AHEC medical professionals, not all of whom used the airport saw 18,848 patients in the 12-month period, Bacon said. The most common reason for clinic visits was so specialists such as pediatric cardiologists could see children in areas where those specialists aren't available.

"These are pretty sick kids who are being seen in these clinics," Bacon said. "One of the problems in pediatrics is there's a real shortage of these people nationally."

Critics have questioned AHEC's need for a new airport in Orange County, since the university is moving operations at least temporarily to Raleigh-Duham International Airport.

Bacon acknowledged some doctors testified at a legislative hearing they might leave the program if they did not have an airport close to campus.

"If some of the faculty decided it's not worth the hassle to drive to RDU or wherever, I think we would see some drop off," he said. "Until it actually happens it's all theoretical."

mark.schultz@nando.com or 932-2003