Central Idaho officials consider expanding airport - Houston Chronicle
KETCHUM, Idaho (AP) — Officials in central Idaho are considering expanding Friedman Memorial Airport in Hailey to meet federal standards after soaring expenses to more than $300 million made a plan to move the airport south less desirable.
The Idaho Mountain Express reports (http://bit.ly/q0shZq) that the Friedman Memorial Airport Authority and city officials held a series of public meetings last week with maps available for viewing that show two possible ways to expand the airport.
"We're just talking about, what should we do now?" said Hailey City Councilwoman Carol Brown. "Whatever we decide, we need to be very clear about the choice and the outcomes."
The airport in Blaine County serves the Ketchum and Sun Valley resort areas to the north, which partially rely on tourists drawn by skiing on Bald Mountain in the winter and a variety of activities in the summer. The airport is also used by private jets.
The Federal Aviation Administration says the current airport should be moved because of expanding residential areas and high hills that make the airport too dangerous. But in August the agency said it had stopped work on an environmental-impact study on a new airport because of increased costs of the new airport and potential impacts on wildlife.
The agency said it's now waiting for airport and city officials to decide whether to continue with plans to move the airport south before the agency will continue spending money to complete the study. The study could end up not being necessary if city officials scrap plans to move the airport south. City officials are concerned they might not be able to raise the money needed to build a new airport.
No cost estimates were available for expanding the airport, but Baird said "both options would be significantly less expensive than a new airport."
One plan involves shifting the runway south by 1,800 feet. The second plan would move the runway south by more than a mile and realign it slightly to the west.
Rick Baird, airport manager, said the maps for the possible expansions were created in 2006 and that expansion of the airport was not a given. But he said the changes could allow the airport to meet some FAA design standards.
He said either option would allow Class 3 planes, including regional jets, to use the airport. He said larger aircraft in Class D or Class 4, which have wider wingspans, would not be allowed under either option.
"This is the big jump," he said. "We can meet FAA standards by either one or a combination of both."
The second option would require buying part of a ranch at the south end of the airport, though it's not known if the ranch owner would be willing to sell.
"I presume that the Airport Authority, if we choose to expand the existing airport, will enter into negotiations with the hope of meeting his needs and ours," Schoen said. "I think it's possible to negotiate, but I don't want to speculate on how difficult that might be."
Baird said doing nothing is also an option, though that could eventually mean losing commercial service as carriers move to larger passenger planes. But Brown said that wasn't an option.
"No commercial air service? Holy Toledo," she said. "It would be an economic disaster."
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Information from: Idaho Mountain Express, http://www.mtexpress.com
26 Sep, 2011--
Source: http://news.google.com/news/url?sa=t&fd=R&usg=AFQjCNHmwO7gWMfsxb6PcS9KyrDPCUvWcQ&url=http://www.chron.com/news/article/Central-Idaho-officials-consider-expanding-airport-2188091.php
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