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Iowa Secretary of State Michael Mauro decided to embrace caution last week when confronted with a decision on whether to accept the city of Adel’s ordinance to annex land and extend its eastern boundary.

Filing the ordinance, recognizing that 16 property owners along U.S. Highway 6 voluntarily agreed to become part of the Dallas County community, is not much more than a formality.

Mauro was aware, though, that shortly before the ordinance was delivered to his office, a lawyer representing the city of Waukee arrived at the Dallas County Courthouse in Adel to file a lawsuit challenging the annexation.

“It sounds like it’s getting messy out there,” Mauro said.

The Adel City Council approved the ordinance after a public hearing Oct. 13. So far as Adel was concerned, the annexation was progressing with few hitches.

Landowners scattered along the north and south side of Highway 6, including Knapp Properties Inc. and Monarch Materials Group Inc., agreed to become a part of the city, providing a few conditions were met.

Namely, the land would continue under its existing use.

For three other landowners, that meant a provision that Adel would pull out of a group that had planned to build an airport.

Adel figured it had the financial wherewithal to extend water and sewer services along the route, with the highway offering a path of least resistance. City Administrator Chad Bird said the city is utilizing 50 percent or less of its current water and sewer capacity.

Waukee city officials have their doubts about the annexation, and those doubts were expressed in the lawsuit.

The city called a special council meeting earlier this month after learning that its neighbor to the west planned to proceed with the voluntary annexation. Leaders from both communities had held discussions about a moratorium on annexation, but the talks faltered last year.

In its lawsuit, Waukee claims that Adel has created an isolated island by including the highway in its annexation plans. The Iowa Department of Transportation (IDOT) has told Adel that it objects to the plan, arguing that by using the highway, the city is following “ribbon” or “flag pole” annexation – essentially picking up properties whose only common link is the road and its right of way.

It is possible that by opposing the annexation, IDOT and Waukee could force Adel to go before the state’s City Development Board, which hears and rules on disputed annexations.

Mauro said that after learning of the dispute between Adel and Waukee, he decided it would be prudent to consult with the state attorney general’s office.

“We’re going to get the right decision,” he said.

Bird said that he was caught a little off guard when Mauro decided against accepting the ordinance.

“We feel that we’re in the right,” Bird said.

He noted that annexation law does allow public property, such as the highway and its right of way, to be included in an annexation.

Waukee hopes to annex about 200 acres northwest of the city for a recreation complex. It had proposed a scheme similar to Adel’s earlier this year, but dropped the plan after IDOT said it would oppose the plan for the same reasons that it opposes the Adel plan.

Waukee City Administrator Jeff Kooistra said the city’s chief concern is that development in the prime area between Adel and Waukee follows an orderly process.

Meanwhile, it appears unlikely that discussions for an annexation moratorium between the cities will resume anytime soon.

“The filing of the lawsuit obviously changes the dynamics of having those conversations or meetings,” Bird said.