The Ventura County Board of Supervisors voted Tuesday to pull out of the Point Mugu Regional Airport Authority, a board that sits ready to develop a commercial airport at Point Mugu if the U.S. Navy ever gives up the property.

The Airport Authority was formed in 1995, when the military was contemplating closing parts of Naval Base Ventura County.

The authority includes representatives from the county Board of Supervisors and the city councils of Oxnard, Port Hueneme, Thousand Oaks and Ventura. If the Navy were to abandon the base or dramatically reduce its use of the airfield, those cities could use the Airport Authority to build a regional airport, along the lines of the airports in Burbank or Santa Barbara.

The board also voted Tuesday to withdraw from the Southern California Water Committee, a lobbying group of government agencies and private businesses that provide municipal water in Southern California. The county will save $10,000 a year in dues by withdrawing.

Both actions were part of a comprehensive review of all of the boards and commissions with which the county is involved. The review was undertaken at the request of Supervisor Peter Foy.

There are a total of 63 such committees, with a total annual cost to the county of close to $900,000, according to a county report issued last year.

The withdrawal from the Airport Authority won't take effect until 360 days after the county provides written notice to the agency.

The authority has never been an active body; its board meets once a year, usually for just a few minutes, so that it retains its legal standing. Its annual budget is about $1,000.

Last year, it considered and denied a request by the county to dissolve. This time, county Supervisor Linda Parks proposed pulling out of the group, leaving it to the cities. Her proposal was approved by a unanimous vote of the board.

"I feel strongly that we should support our Navy, and if they weren't there, we could consider an airport, but they are there," Parks said.

"If we keep the committee, it sends the wrong message to the Department of Defense, that the locals are kind of salivating to get ahold of this facility," Supervisor John Flynn said.

Ventura City Councilman Neal Andrews, the chairman of the Airport Authority board, urged the Board of Supervisors not to withdraw. Andrews, who has lobbied on behalf of keeping Naval Base Ventura County open, said the existence of the Airport Authority didn't hurt those lobbying efforts.

"The Point Mugu Regional Airport Authority is a placeholder entity, and it serves a vital function as a placeholder," he said.

"Should the efforts to maintain a viable military presence at Point Mugu fail, it will be absolutely vital that we move quickly to replace this giant economic engine in our county."