Love it or hate it, the Friedman Memorial Airport Authority's choice of a site for a new airport was a classic exercise in political democracy.
With a 4-1 vote, the authority decided to recommend Site 10 for further review by the Federal Aviation Administration.
Site 10 lies south of Timmerman Hill east of state Highway 75, about halfway to the Lincoln County line, directly opposite and somewhat south of Magic Reservoir.
The decision ultimately turned on two things: control and economics.
Unlike Site 13 in Camas County or Site 9 near the Lincoln County line, all of Site 10 and any service roads would lie within Blaine County. This leaves Blaine County as the master of its own fate.
Members of the authority were rightly concerned about putting control of the airport into the hands of other mostly rural counties with no experience or understanding of a tourist economy.
The authority dispensed with the Camas site early on. Members were loathe to lay off airport noise and traffic on Camas County, which was lukewarm about the idea of an airport in its pristine prairie, not to mention the potential expense for the sparsely populated county.
Authority members-at long last-seemed to embrace some of the economic concerns that made the site selection process so contentious.
They chose the site that lies closest to the Sun Valley Resort. The impact of the longer drive time on visitation remains to be seen. Depending on road conditions and traffic, the site is 20 to 30 minutes farther by car than the existing airport.
The site may have the best odds of retaining the area's existing air service because it does not move the airport closer to Boise's cheaper fares. It also presents fewer hassles for air travelers diverted to Twin Falls should weather close the airport. Picking up private or rental cars there should be easier and less time consuming because unlike the Camas site, the recommended site is on the road to Sun Valley.
Still, the decision left open major questions.
The FAA now must review the site, and it must meet the standards of the National Environmental Policy Act.
It sits in the middle of federal lands administered by the Bureau of Land Management. Sage grouse, currently a sensitive species of concern under the Endangered Species Act, may exist there.
The Shoshone Bannock Tribes assert treaty rights there. And, general aviation pilots may not like the site.
Finally, no one yet knows the cost of construction and air subsidies, or who will foot all of the bills, or where the money will come from.
More to come. Stay tuned for more exercises in this perfectly imperfect system called democracy.
