By Rich Wicks | Times Vedette

The Guthrie County Board of Supervisors met in regular session on Aug. 13. During the Public Comments portion of the meeting, several citizens spoke in opposition to the planned CO2 pipeline. Among the main concerns from those who spoke were frustration over the lack of clear and early communication about the proposed pipeline and a feeling that citizens are getting “the runaround” when they try to get questions answered. There were also complaints about using eminent domain to push the project through.

Supervisors Brian Johnson, Mike Dickson and Steve Smith shared their views on the matter.

“It’s my view that there’s not much we, as a board, can do,” Johnson said. “We could bring up a resolution and vote against it, but it doesn’t have any standing. I’m speaking for myself now. I don’t like the eminent domain part of it.”

Johnson also pointed out that fighting the pipeline could be very costly in time and dollars.

“This board has expressed before that we’re not necessarily for the eminent domain. I definitely don’t agree with it,” Dickson said.

Dickson agreed that the board could pass a resolution, but it may not carry any weight.

“I think the important thing to do is to let people see where we stand on those issues. So even if we feel like our hands might be tied, people need to know that this is not what we want, and we’ll go down kicking,” Smith said.

“That really is the core of the argument. Is this regulated by state and federal government versus the counties?” Johnson asked.

State Senator Jesse Green was in attendance and spoke on the issue.

“When it comes to linear projects, projects that cross county lines, that is strictly regulated by the state. If you didn’t have a structure like that, it would be absolute chaos,” Sen. Green said. “The reality is that this is a legislature problem.”

Green said he would research further to see what can be done.

County Treasurer Brenda Campbell gave the supervisors her annual Treasurer’s Report. The supervisors voted to approve the report as submitted.

The next regular meeting of the supervisors will be Tuesday, Aug. 20. The public is welcome to attend in person or via remote technology. To join remotely, call 323-792-6123, then use meeting code 547029216#.