Sheldon, Iowa — When Sheldon voters go to the polls this coming Tuesday they’ll be asked to decide the future of the proposed electric and natural gas franchise agreements between the City of Sheldon and MidAmerican Energy.
The Sheldon City Council originally introduced franchise agreements that included a five percent franchise fee that would be collected by MidAmerican from their Sheldon customers, and paid to Sheldon to help balance the City’s budget. Several citizens took issue with the agreements, in particular with that five percent franchise fee. Terry Braaksma is one of those who spoke out to the Council in opposition to the early agreements. He tells us that originally the Council intended to pass the franchise agreements without putting them to a vote.
After Braaksma and several other citizens balked at the proposed five-percent franchise fee the Council opted to remove that fee from the franchise agreements, and signaled their intention to go ahead and enter into franchise agreements without putting them to a vote. It was then that a petition was presented to the City forcing the measure onto the ballot in what is called a reverse referendum. Braaksma explains why he signed that petition.
After reading through the potential franchise agreements, Braaksma says he can find no advantage for Sheldon by granting franchise agreements to MidAmerican Energy.
Braaksma presented KIWA with a copy of an open letter he wrote to explain his opposition to the proposed franchise agreements. You can read that letter by CLICKING HERE.
