May 1st referendum on municipal electric utility seems likely

Decorah City Council members took no official votes during a 75-minute work session Tuesday evening on the municipal electric utility issue, but they seemed to reach an agreement that May 1st should be the date for a referendum.

That's in large part because the referendum issue will be a simple question along the lines of, "Do you support a municipal electric utility in Decorah?"  The vote would be held to get a reading of the public's opinion on the topic, since city council member Andy Carlson noted, "There's no middle ground" among the people who have talked to him.

City council members spent a good deal of time Tuesday evening discussing whether the city should hire its own expert to review the feasibility studies done by Alliant Energy and by Decorah Power.  "There are pros and cons either way," said Assistant City Attorney John Anderson, who led council members in a discussion of legal matters involving an Iowa Utilities Board application.

City council member Kirk Johnson urged picking the May 1st date, saying "The information is out there."  City council member Steve Luse said he could also support an August 7th referendum, but also spoke in favor of the May 1st date.

Even if a referendum passed May 1st, city council members noted that the city would have plenty of options--even including renewing its franchise agreement with Alliant Energy.

A formal vote on a referendum date will be taken next Monday at the city council's regularly-scheduled meeting.