County supervisors hear from municipal electric utility opponent

Decorah resident Herb Hageman met with Winneshiek County supervisors Monday morning to outline his reasons for opposing the proposed municipal electric utility in Decorah.

Hageman, a retired Alliant Energy employee, told supervisors that while the municipal electric utility is being proposed now by a citizens group, it would become a City of Decorah project if a referendum passed.  Hageman said that means the city would have to pay all the costs of applying to the Iowa Utilities Board--costs that would have to be paid even if the IUB were to eventually deny the city's application to take over from Alliant.

Hageman said he has attended programs given by the Decorah Power group, but said what he has heard so far was a lot of "maybes, could be's and might be's" from proponents.

Supervisors--who last week heard from Decorah Power representatives--took no action on the matter.