ZONING AMENDMENTS
The Plymouth County Zoning Board will hold a public hearing Monday on several amendments to it’s zoning rules. Zoning Administrator Alan Lucken says a consultant has been hired to write the amendments to the ordinance, one of them to modify the subdivision rules.
Lucken says new rules for solar arrays are among the amendments.
Setbacks for wind generators, and establishment of an indemnity fund for wind and solar farms are among the zoning changes. Another issue addressed in the new zoning amendment will be electronic signs in Plymouth County. Lucken says the size and brightness of the signs raises safety issues. The hearing is at 1 pm today at the Courthouse Annex.
UTILITIES BOARD CHAIR
Governor Kim Reynolds has appointed a former Republican legislator to lead the Iowa Utilities Board.
Current Iowa Utilities Board chair Jeri Huser will remain on the board, but the governor has appointed Eric Helland to take over as chair in May. Helland, who is an attorney, grew up on a farm near Huxley and served two terms in the Iowa House representing the Des Moines suburb of Johnston. Helland will lead the Iowa Utilities Board as it considers applications for construction permits for three carbon pipelines.Helland’s nomination must be confirmed by the Iowa Senate, where Republians now hold the super majority necessary for confirmation. When Helland’s term starts May 1st, all three members of the Iowa Utilities Board will be former members of the Iowa House. Helland’s nomination must be confirmed by 34 senators. Republicans currently hold a 34 seat majority in the Iowa Senate.
OBJECTION TO RULING
There’s no ruling yet, but an objection has been filed in the aftermath of a bench trial involving a company wanting to build a carbon pipeline on property owned by rural Woodbury County residents who refused to give permission for company surveyors to be on their land.
Navigator Heartland Greenway LLC took Vicki and William Hulse to court, seeking a permanent injunction forcing the landowners to allow company surveys of their land.
The Hulse’s have refused Navigators request and claimed it is unconstitutional to be forced into allowing surveyors access to their property.
The objection by Hulse’s attorney is regarding a ruling by a different judge on another lawsuit involving Navigator and a Clay County resident last week.
That judge ruled that Navigator complied with the necessary statutory requirements as it relates to the mailing of the notice letter to the Clay County resident via restricted certified mail to survey his land.
Navigator asked for that ruling to be entered as supplemental authority for the judge deciding the Woodbury County case.
Hulse’s attorney objects on grounds that they never received proper notice and never signed a letter unlike in the Clay County case.
The Clay County judge also did not rule on the constitutionality of Iowa Code in the case, and will preside in a bench trial in that matter on April 19th.
SPRING WATERFLOW
The D-N-R expert who keeps tabs of waterflow levels in the state says March was dry, but overall we are heading into spring in good shape. Tim Hall says snow and rain have help cut down some dry areas.
Iowa’s new Drought Plan lists the state in a “Drought Watch,” which Hall says is a signal to keep a close eye on what’s happening.
He says there are still some dry areas in the state, but things are much better thanks to those wetter months.
Hall says the improvement is not a signal we have enough water not to worry about it.
He says we should try to not waster water whether we are in a drought situation, or have normal levels.
DONOR AWARENESS
April is a month dedicated to raising awareness of organ and tissue donations. Sioux City firefighters held a ceremony and raised an organ donation flag Friday. Iowa Donor Network services coordinator, John Jorgensen, says 115 organ donors generously gave 341 organs for transplant in Iowa in 2022. He says thousands more lives were healed by the gift of 979 tissue donors. There are more than 600 Iowans waiting for a transplant or tissue donation. You can register to be an organ donor at IowaDonorNetwork.org.
LOGROLLING RULING
G-O-P leaders in the legislature are considering a formal response to a recent Iowa Supreme Court ruling critical of so-called “logrolling” in the lawmaking process. The justices concluded proposals that didn’t have majority support were attached to a bill during a vote taken well after midnight in the Iowa Senate, violating the constitutional requirement that each bill address a single subject. Senate Republican Leader Jack Whitver says the ruling raises concerns.
The ruling also accused a state senator of misrepresenting the contents of the bill to sway votes. Whitver says assigning a single reason for every yes vote on a bill is questionable.
A spokesperson for House Speaker Pat Grassley says leaders are reviewing options and the House is interested in doing something to respond to the ruling, but no decision has been made. Last month’s Iowa Supreme Court decision centered aroud a 2020 Iowa law that was changed by language added to a bill on another subject. The justices ruled the law had unfairly prevented out of state companies from bidding to build transmission lines in Iowa and the case was sent back to a district court.
PROPERTY TAX REFORM
Republicans in the House and Senate have yet to agree on a property tax reduction plan as the 2023 Iowa legislature enters its 13th week. Senator Dan Dawson, a Republican from Council, is chairman of the Senate Ways and Means Committee that drafts tax policy. Dawson says he’s optimistic something will get done this year — although he acknowledges the Senate G-O-P’s bills on the topic are different the bill House Republicans have proposed. Pat Grassley, the speaker of the House, says House and Senate Republicans are not close to agreeing on a common approach to property tax adjustments.
IOWA WESLEYAN CAMPUS
The U-S-D-A will become responsible for the Iowa Wesleyan campus in Mount Pleasant when the university closes May 31st and U-S Ag Secretary Tom Vilsack says it’s too early to tell what’s next. Iowa Wesleyan has had significant operating losses for years and nearly closed in 2018. The university owes 21 million on a U-S-D-A loan and another five million dollars on a bank loan that was guaranteed by the U-S-D-A. Vilsack, who served as mayor of Mount Pleasant in the late 80s and early 90s, says Iowa Wesleyan has been an economic driver for the community and he’d like to avoid dividing the 60 acre campus into parcels and selling off individual buildings. Vilsack says there may be another university or college interested in the campus, or it might be a good training center for some sector of the federal government.
