OSKALOOSA — The Mahaska County Board of Supervisors discussed options available to county landowners who are set to be impacted by the proposed Navigator Pipeline, a carbon capture and sequester pipeline that, if approved, would run through Mahaska County.
The board was joined at their regular Monday morning meeting by Tiffany Kruizenga, an inspector with ISG. Kruizenga is part of a team hired by the county but ultimately funded by the pipeline company in accordance with Iowa Code to ensure landowners have all available resources at their disposal when writing easements and dealing with land agents concerning access for the proposed pipeline.
The proposed Navigator Pipeline is a carbon capture and sequester pipeline spearheaded by Navigator CO2 Ventures. If approved, the pipeline would run through 36 Iowa counties including Mahaska and Wapello. The line is still in the permitting stage and recently was rejected for a permit in South Dakota. Efforts remain underway to gain approval for land access, causing some Iowa landowners to fear for their land rights.
Kruizenga says she is at the disposal of Mahaska County residents to provide guidance as they advocate for their own wants and needs during the permitting process.
“Our role, set by the Iowa Utilities Board, is to help ensure that the Chapter Nine enforcing regulations are adhered to throughout the construction process,” Kruizenga says. “As a goodwill gesture, as Mahaska County or any county that signed on with us prior to construction starting, we become a resource for the landowners to help understand what the code includes. As you’re working with the land agents with the pipeline, if you have questions and aren’t sure if your needs or wants are in the code, we can help provide that.”
Kruizenga and her team can provide information and help with answering questions about fencing, tree removal, soil compaction and more in connection with the pipeline, ensuring that all phases of the construction process are executed in accordance with Iowa Code.
Kruizenga says that if Mahaska County residents have questions or concerns, they can get in touch by contacting ISG’s Des Moines office and asking to be transferred to her. The phone number for ISG’s Des Moines office is 515-243-9143.
State Rep. Helena Hayes (R) was also present at the meeting and announced that she will be holding an informational meeting about the pipeline at the Fremont Community Center this coming Wednesday, Sept. 20, at 6 p.m. The meeting will include a history of the pipeline issue, a talk with Anna Ryan, formerly of the Office of Consumer Advocacy, and emergency management personnel from Satartia, Mississippi, a community that experienced a poisonous carbon pipeline rupture in February 2020.
Supervisors discuss putting regional airport to a county-wide vote
The board of supervisors also discussed the proposed South Central Regional Airport, ultimately deciding that the supervisors do not have the authority to put the issue to a county-wide vote.
“In the code there are certain times when you can have a public measure of the ballot,” says County Attorney Andrew Ritland. “Public measure can include the authorization of exceeding a levy, it could be creation of a special district of some kind, like a water district or fire district. There’s a lot of different ways that public measures can get on the ballot. However, there must be specific authorization in the code to put a public measure on. It has to be for a committed purpose.”
Ritland addressed the previous vote on the issue, which was taken in 2005.
“As we recall,” he says, “There was a vote in the City of Oskaloosa … a little while ago. In that vote, it was based on section Iowa Code 330.17, which says if you’re going to transfer the control of an airport from, for example, a city into an airport authority, that needs to be approved by the voters. So if you’re going to create a semi-independent body to operate an airport that used to be held by a city or a county, the voters need to approve that transfer. Obviously the voters of Osklaoosa did not approve the transfer. But there is no general authority to put a question on the ballot regarding a question of public policy.”
Ritland added that some cities in Iowa, called “charter cities,” operate under a city charter that can include the right to Initiative and Referendum, which allows citizens to present initiatives to the city council and put policy issues directly before the voters. Oskaloosa is currently one of these cities. However, in May of this year, the Oskaloosa City Council controversially voted to remove the article providing for Initiative and Referendum from its city charter.
“There is no equivalent in county government of Initiative and Referendum,” Ritland says. “It’s a creature of a charter city, and I would note that it’s somewhat in flux in Oskaloosa because the City Council is trying to remove that ability for citizen initiative.”
A petition has been filed to put the council’s vote to remove Initiative and Referendum from the city charter to a vote this November.
Ritland says that there is no point to the county holding its own vote on the airport, given that the result of the vote would have no binding legal effect. Ritland says that he has been in contact with the Deputy Secretary of State who is in charge of elections state-wide, and that he was advised that in the absence of any “statutory authorization,” the issue cannot be added to the ballot.
“Typically on a ballot, when the voters say ‘I want this to happen’ and there’s a majority approval, there’s a legal obligation that that must happen, right. But in this case, it just doesn’t really do anything. There’s no legal effect,” Ritland says.