City of Decorah to send letter to the Iowa Utilities Board telling its side of the story about negotiations with Alliant Energy

The City of Decorah on Friday will send a letter to the Iowa Utilities Board about why it is voting in favor of a franchise agreement with Alliant Energy, even though it wrote a letter to the IUB accusing Alliant of negotiating in poor faith.

The Decorah City Council voted 5-1 (Randy Schissel dissenting) on Thursday morning to have a staff review of a draft letter to the IUB, then send on the letter to the regulatory body if no major changes are made to the letter.

City council member Emily Neal said the follow-up letter is necessary because Alliant Energy sent the IUB a letter which painted "a rosy picture of franchise agreement negotiations."  Schissel disagreed with sending the letter, predicting, "We're going to be passing (the franchise agreement) in two weeks."  Neal countered that the letter would give the IUB an update on how negotiations have proceeded.

The franchise agreement with Alliant Energy will come up for a third and final vote on Monday, August 3rd.  City council members have complained to the IUB about the agreement's clause that the city could not opt out of the agreement until five years from signing the agreement.  City council members said Alliant used the cost of moving utilities along Locust Road as a way to get the city to sign the agreement.  Alliant has denied the claim.