(Spirit Lake)– The city of Spirit Lake wants a study done to determine who owns what when it comes to the only railroad tracks that are still in Dickinson county.
The Iowa Northwestern Railroad has been operating on the line between Ocheyedan and just west of Superior since the Union Pacific sold it several years ago. But Spirit Lake Public Works Director Todd Dolphin says there’s a possibility some smaller portions of the line and some spurs may have been sold previously by the Union Pacific to another holding company.
Dolphin and City Administrator Pete Hegeman were at Tuesday’s board of supervisors meeting requesting the county help pay a portion of the ownership study, which will be done by a local engineering firm. The cost is estimated at 9,500-dollars. The supervisors voted three-to-nothing for the county to pick up a portion of that cost, as long as its share isn’t more than a third of that amount.
