DUNCOMBE — Some progress at the development of a new travel center along U.S. Highway 20 is stalled as the utility permit for the water main extension hangs in limbo.

Marker 126 owner Kevin Stumpf addressed the Webster County Board of Supervisors on Tuesday about the delays this stalled permit is causing.

On April 13, Xenia Rural Water District, of Bouton, filed a permit application for a 4-inch diameter water main extension to provide water at the travel center site.

In a letter dated April 21, Fort Dodge City Attorney Mark Crimmins wrote that the city is requesting the county deny or table the utility permit application for Stumpf’s travel center development project. He noted that the site at Poplar Avenue and U.S. Highway 20 is not currently within Xenia’s service territory.

Crimmins added that the city is in the process of annexing the Gypsum City OHV Park, which would put Stumpf’s property within Fort Dodge’s two-mile extraterritorial jurisdiction, which grants cities the primary right to provide water service in areas within two miles of the city limits that were not already being served by a rural water district.

Stumpf argues that the city can’t block his permit simply because they may have future plans to expand the corporate limits of Fort Dodge — as of the time of the filing of the permit, the Marker 126 site is more than two miles beyond the city’s limits.

In response to Crimmins’ letter to the Board of Supervisors, Stumpf also wrote a letter to the board.

“Denying or tabling of the permit application will cause delays and directly impact the success of this project going forward,” Stumpf’s letter reads. “Construction of the site is well under way and provision of utilities is the next integral step towards completion. A delay in utility access will cause a costly delay in the opening of our business.”

Board chair Mark Campbell told Stumpf that County Attorney Darren Driscoll is looking into the issues with the permit application.

“We’ve never had anybody oppose a permit,” Campbell said.

Driscoll said after speaking with the city, the city raised some concerns about fire safety and its plan to extend the corporate limits of the city. He said the county engineer is reaching out to the State Fire Marshal and the Otho Fire Department to see if the proposed 4-inch main line will have sufficient capacity for fire operations.

Driscoll also said that Xenia has indicated that it is willing to adjust the water main size if the 4-inch is found to be insufficient.