The mayor of the central Idaho town of Hailey says the county's commissioners are obstructing efforts to move the local airport out of the community by refusing to rezone potential replacement sites.
Mayor Fritz Haemmerle says business interests want a close-by airport and are influencing Blaine County commissioners into keeping the current airport and potentially expanding it.
Haemmerle says residents of northern Blaine County that includes the resort areas of Ketchum and Sun Valley need to have empathy for residents of Hailey and nearby Bellevue who deal with the noise and potential danger of commercial air traffic.
Commissioners tell the Idaho Mountain Express in a story on Friday that they do care but the current airport's master plan has to be completed in order to get federal funding.