(Red Oak, Iowa) – By a vote of four-to-one, with Supervisor Mike Olson voting No, the Montgomery County Board of Supervisors today (Wednesday), approved a contribution of $500 to ISAC (The Iowa State Association of Counties), for an Amicus Brief presentation to the U-S Supreme Court, with regard to a case over local control of carbon pipeline projects. In October, Shelby and Story County officials filed a petition in their case against Summit Carbon Solutions, seeking to appeal the Eighth Circuit Court of Appeals’ ruling in June that upheld a lower court’s ruling barring counties from implementing ordinances regulating carbon sequestration projects–such as the proposed Midwest Express CO2 pipeline.

MC BOS 11-5-25

Prior to his No vote, Supervisor Olson reasoned that no one has ever sponsored a fundraiser for Montgomery County to help pay for matters of repeated litigation.

Board Chair Charla Schmid was in favor of the consortium’s effort. Supervisor Bryant Amos said he had mixed feelings about the matter. He said he does believe in local control, but he thinks the whole matter of carbon sequestration is scientifically unproven.

Supervisor Alex Burton agreed. On a related note, the Adair County Board of Supervisors, during their meeting this (Wednesday) morning, in Greenfield, also approved an ISAC funding request in the amount of $500, to support the appellate review involving Shelby and Story counties.

In other business, and after considerable, sometimes heated discussion, the Montgomery County Board voted 3-to 2, to keep the County Compensation Board. Supervisors Bryant Amos and Mike Olson voted in favor of a resolution to dissolve the Comp Board. Supervisors Schmid, Burton and Peterson voted against the move.

The decision comes with the understanding the Supervisors are responsible for record keeping from this point forward. Board Member Burton will handle the communication aspect of the effort.