The Guthrie County Board of Supervisors met in regular session Tuesday.

The meeting began with comments regarding a proposed underground carbon dioxide pipeline from Summit Carbon Solutions. County Attorney Dana Minteer said there wasn’t much the County could do in regards to the proposed pipeline, mentioning that Story and Shelby Counties did pass ordinances to fight the first phase of the project, and were then sued by Summit Carbon Solutions, with Summit winning the suits. She added that these cases were held in federal court, and the opinion from the judge was that counties do not have a say, because it is the Iowa Utilities Board, now the Iowa Utilities Commission, that issued the permit for Summit.

The Board then heard comments and answered questions from County residents on the pipeline in the public comment period of the meeting, then heard concerns on the pipeline from Alfred and Sharon Wessling. Riley Gibson of Summit Solutions then gave a short presentation, and answered questions from the audience.

The Board reviewed a resolution that objects to the Iowa Utilities Commission’s authority to enact eminent domain authority within Guthrie County for privately owned and operated carbon dioxide pipelines, and tabled a decision to send the resolution to Minteer for legal review until it could be revised. The original motion to pass the resolution pending legal review failed in a 2-3 vote, with Supervisor Chair JD Kuster and Supervisor Mike Dickson voting yes, and Supervisors Brian Johnson, Steve Smith and Maggie Armstrong voting no.

The Board then approved the annual Conservation Department report from Conservation Director Brad Halterman. He also shared that in a joint effort with Greene County Conservation, they had been awarded a $1.2 million grant through Region XII Council of Governments to redo the surface of portions on the Raccoon River Valley Trail. Finally, the Board upheld a decision by Zoning Administrator Chris Whitaker for a building permit at 1313 Fig Avenue.