Burley Ready To Move Forward With New Airport Project, Asks Counties for Support
Jun. 7—BURLEY — The city is ready to move forward with relocating its airport and is asking Cassia County and Minidoka County to allocate 10% of tax funds to build and operate the new airport. That will come next year after the Burley Development Authority closes out urban renewal allocation areas.
Closing the two urban renewal allocation areas will increase tax revenues for the city and both counties and will allow the Burley Municipal Airport to be relocated to a safer area.
"With that we've put the airport as an item to move forward," City Administrator Mark Mitton said.
According to a letter dated May 4, written to the Cassia County Commissioners, and signed by Burley Mayor Steve Ormond, the city of Burley will make up the difference in the new airport funding out of its portion of the same tax funding increase.
Mitton spoke with the Cassia County Commissioners during a Monday meeting and said the city intends to meet with Minidoka County to discuss the proposal soon.
To underline the need to move forward with the project, Mitton cited an April 13 aircraft fatality, where UPS pilot Brittany Infanger, 30, was killed when her plane struck a smokestack at Gem State Processing as it was trying to land at the airport.
The city as been trying for more than two decades to move the airport. The Federal Aviation Administration is no longer funding the airport due to safety issues surrounding the length of its runways.
The city previously said without FAA funding, the city will be forced to close the airport at its existing site.
"The runways are shot," Mitton said, because there has been no federal funding to provide any maintenance for years.
There has not been any maintenance performed at the airport in 12 years, except for "a little crack fill," he said.
"It would take millions of dollars to rehab the runways," he said.
The city, supported by the two counties, tried to introduce legislation three years ago that would have allowed the two counties to join together to form an airport authority taxing district, after it was approved by voters.
Idaho airport authority laws allow three or more counties to join together to form an airport authority, but Cassia and Minidoka counties do not have another adjoining county that does not already have an airport — and the legislation would have granted an acceptation.
Mitton said on Monday that the legislation is dead and did not move out of committee this session.
He said the city has prepared a scope of work to perform another feasibility plan to move the project forward with a previously selected airport site east of Declo.
In 2016, a task force with members from both counties identified two possible sites for a new airport, including the preferred site south of Interstate 84 and Exit 216.
Cassia County Commissioner Board Chairperson Leonard Beck asked Mitton if the request for county funding would become a permanent obligation.
"Yes, we'd do a contract with the city and both counties," Mitton said.
Mitton said the city will take responsibility for the new airport, just like it does currently.
He said the county assessor's office and state tax commission currently have differing tax amounts for the two urban renewal areas that will close, but as soon as a final numbers are available, they will be forwarded to the county.
Commissioner Bob Kunau asked if the FAA was still moving forward with its master plan for the airport.
"The mayor and I met with the FAA and they want us to move forward with it," Mitton said. "And they want us to remain open until we get a new airport or decide we can't do it."
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