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Council approves additional MEU voter-education material with wording change on feasibility study
Summary
Decorah’s council approved four additional voter-education answers for the municipal electric utility (MEU) referendum, changing instances of “will” to “may” regarding whether the city will conduct a feasibility study; the materials were reviewed by special counsel and the Iowa ethics board legal staff.
The Decorah City Council voted to adopt additional voter-education language about a potential municipal electric utility (MEU) referendum, and amended the text so the city “may conduct a feasibility study” rather than “will.”
Staff explained the proposed answers respond to frequently asked public questions and that the special legal counsel and the Iowa Ethics Board’s executive director and legal counsel had reviewed the language. A staff member said the question of whether the city would seek a certificate of authority from the Iowa Utilities Commission would be a policy decision for the council and is not established by Iowa Code text.
During discussion council members expressed differing views on how definitive the materials should be. One council member said voters needed as much information as possible; another urged caution because many next-step decisions would depend on the results of a referendum and subsequent legal and financial processes. Several council members emphasized that some answers must remain tentative because state processes and future council decisions cannot be fully predicted.
A motion to approve the additional materials — incorporating the change from “will” to “may” in the feasibility-study language — carried on roll call. The tally recorded five ayes and two nays (Chisel and Olson voted no); the motion passed.
