(Spirit Lake)– There’s yet another new wrinkle in efforts to construct a utility building that would house two county vehicles and 911 communications equipment in conjunction with the courthouse project. The proposed building is to be constructed near the former Baptist Church in Spirit Lake.
It was reported at Tuesday’s board of supervisors meeting that Alliant Energy wants 19,845-dollars to bury some overhead power lines that need to be moved to make room for the communications tower to be built near the building. That raised the ire of Supervisor Paul Johnson, who scolded the company for not being a better corporate citizen. No one from Alliant was present at Tuesday’s meeting. Johnson said the only option the county has to avoid the additional cost is to move the tower to another part of the property. One supervisor, Pam Jordan, spoke in favor of keeping the tower where it’s at and paying the additional money to bury the lines, saying it would improve aesthetics.
The final say will be up to the 911 board, which would have to come up with the 20-thousand dollars to pay for the power line relocations.
