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BURLEY, Idaho (AP) — Idaho's Mini-Cassia region must come to a consensus about relocating its deteriorating airport by early 2016 or it could lose the economic driver it's been trying to save for 25 years.
The J.R. "Jack" Simplot Airport has been constrained by a highway, the Snake River, railroad tracks and a city that grew up around it, and for two decades Burley has been trying to find a new location for it, reported the Times-News (http://bit.ly/1NWjco0 ).
Each time a new location was suggested, land-use issues and disagreement between the region's cities and counties thwarted progress.
Now, the Federal Aviation Administration has given Mini-Cassia a deadline: Burley must either lengthen the airport's runways or find a new location by early 2016. If that doesn't happen, the agency will stop funding the airport and it the city will be forced to shut it down.
A loss of federal funds would be followed by a loss of state funding, said Idaho Division of Aeronautics administrator Mike Pape.
"The airport," he said, "would slowly deteriorate back into a gravel pit."
City Administrator Mark Mitton said Burley's decision will be easy if its neighbors don't support efforts to relocate the airport.
"If we can't go forward with a new site," he said, "there will be no reason to prolong the pain of closing it."
But if the community can rally behind a location, the FAA will fund most of the main structures for a general aviation airport, according to Steve Engebrecht, FAA Helena Airports District Office lead engineer.
The FAA would not be able to share costs for a road that serves other businesses or farms, utilities that serve others and moving existing hangars. But it will help pay for roads and utilities that serve only the airport.
Depending on the site, the airport could cost an estimated $20 to $32 million. Burley leaders recently said they plan to fund the city's 3-4 percent local match by selling the current airport property to the Burley Development Authority.
"Closing the Burley airport would be a tragedy to the area. The airport is serving 20,000 people," said Pape, the Idaho aeronautics administrator.
He said the airport provides an annual economic impact of $3.8 million to the community, along with benefits for emergency medical care, agricultural operations and business access.
When a city has an airport, it isn't in the middle of nowhere anymore, said Pape.
"Airports," he said, "are an economic powerhouse."
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Information from: The Times-News, http://www.magicvalley.com
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