(Spirit Lake)– A legal battle between the city of Spirit Lake and Clay Regional Water over rights to serve a newly annexed area into the city may be about to include a new party: the Dickinson County Board of Supervisors.
The supervisors voted unanimously December 31st to sign off on petitions from property owners in the affected area wanting to detach from Clay Regional Water…saying they want to be served by the city. Wednesday, Steve Avery, an attorney for CRW, told the supervisors to rescind the action or they’ll be included in the lawsuits that have been filed in both state and federal court.
Greg Owen, an attorney representing the city, says there are no grounds to involve the county in the suit…saying supervisors followed the law in approving the detachment requests. And Owen asserted the property owners could in turn sue the county if the supervisors rescind their earlier action.
A new issue surfaced in the fracas Wednesday when it was announced that Chris Bjornstad, a brother to Dickinson County Attorney Ned Bjornstad who works out of the same office, is also representing Clay Regional Water. That raised the question of a conflict of interest from Spirit Lake City Councilman Pat McNorton. Assistant County Attorney John Bjornstad, who’s representing the supervisors, said he doesn’t feel there is a conflict…saying he’s been hired by the county to follow the wishes of the supervisors. If the supervisors feel otherwise, Bjornstad said he’d step aside from the case.
Saying they want to make sure all property owners in the affected area know what’s going on, the supervisors have scheduled a public hearing on the matter for 7:30 p.m. February 6th in the third floor courtroom of the Dickinson County Courthouse. Following that, they may take action on whether or not to rescind the December 31st action.
The mess threatens to bring development in the area between Hill Avenue and Highway 71 on the city’s southwest side to a halt. The YMCA is proposed to be built in that same area.
