POCATELLO — “Project Pipe,” a planned development near the Pocatello Regional Airport that would have brought 80 new jobs with an average annual wage of $38,500, is now plugged.

    According to a news release from the city of Pocatello, the company behind Project Pipe has notified the city of Pocatello that at this time the company is not considering the Pocatello airport for construction of a facility. Delays caused by needed Federal Aviation Administration approval have killed progress on the planned project, according to city officials.

    Pocatello’s Planning and Development Manager Lonnie Crowell said it came as a surprise when the FAA insisted on approval of any project on the propertyadjacent to the existing airport facility.

    “We’ve done other projects where it wasn’t an issue,” Crowell said, adding Petersen, Inc., a 72,000 square-foot manufacturing facility, was built on city airport property without FAA interference in 2010.

    “Project Pipe needed to be in place by a certain date,” said Pocatello Airport Manager David Allen. “We were already five months behind schedule and we were getting bogged down in the environmental review process.”

    In February, the Pocatello City Council approved spending up to $3,858 to have T-O Engineers prepare the information for a categorical exclusion, known as a “CatX” to address the environmental impacts of the proposed project near the airport. In addition, Allen said the city is proceeding with the steps necessary to remove about 900 acres near the airport from the official airport map so they can be used for non-aeronautical purposes.

    “This land was already released by the FAA for non-aeronautical use and can be removed from the map under proper procedures,” Allen said. “The city will still own the land, it will still be annexed into the city limits and it will still have advantageous access to air transportation. But once it is no longer airport property, it no longer falls under FAA rules.”

    The city will continue with about $2.48 million in infrastructure improvements on the airport property in Power County west of Pocatello which Crowell called “deferred maintenance.” These improvements include a new water tank, sewer lift station and road resurfacing.

    However a loan for approximately $6 million initially approved by the Pocatello Development Authority last November to help pay for a new Idaho Power substation and railroad spur extension has been cancelled, according to PDA board member and city councilman Michael Orr.

    Orr said the PDA never signed any notes for the loan and it will not now that Project Pipe has withdrawn its plans to create a pipe manufacturing facility on airport property. Orr said Idaho Power has already returned a $1,300 check from the PDA to do the initial engineering studies on the new power substation.

    Orr said although the FAA approval requirement came as a surprise, it shouldn’t have.

    “Due diligence and just assessing everything is always better,” Orr said. “We need to make sure we get things in writing,” he said about laying the groundwork before moving ahead with city projects.

    To help bring Project Pipe to Pocatello, officials from the city and Bannock Development Corporation helped push the Idaho Department of Commerce to grant the project a $436,000, 9-year state tax incentive last year.

    Allen remains optimistic about future development near the existing airport.

    “There is no anticipated development, so the review can remain at the lowest level and should take minimal time to complete,” Allen said about the environmental assessment required by the FAA. “I’m hoping for less than six months, but without a project there is no pressure. Even if it takes longer, the review will get done and we will develop the land.”

    And Crowell hasn’t given upon Project Pipe.

    “They’re just on hold,” Crowell said. “We don’t know if they are gone for good.”