Opponents of a bill to make it easier for Dakota, Minnesota & Eastern Railroad to condemn private land for a controversial coal-line project have less than a week to gather enough signatures to bring the issue to a public vote.

Republican state Sen. Bill Napoli of Rapid City, an original co-sponsor of the bill before deciding it would unfairly damage property rights, said Monday that he was optimistic the group would get the signatures needed to force a vote.

"Unless there's a big foul-up somewhere, we'll be in good shape," Napoli said. "And once we get it on the ballot, I think they have an indefensible position," he said, referring to the DM&E.

Protect Private Property, a ballot-issue committee organized to refer the law to a public vote, needs at least 16,776 valid petition signatures by June 16 to qualify for the November general-election ballot. The group had 90 days from the time SB174 was signed by Gov. Mike Rounds to collect the necessary ballot signatures.

The bill passed the state Senate 20-13 and the House 54-16. Rounds signed it March 17.

Protect Private Property chairman Jeremiah M. Murphy of Rapid City lobbied against the bill during the legislative session and has been directing the effort to refer the law to the November election before it can become law on July 1. Murphy would not say on Monday how many petition signatures had been gathered.

"We're really focused on getting over the finish line," he said. "And we'd be happy to get into detail after the deadline is over and our work on that is done."

The Rapid City Area Chamber of Commerce was one of the many groups that supported SB174. Pat McElgunn, the chamber's vice president of governmental affairs, said Monday that he expects the chamber to continue supporting the DM&E coal project and SB174 if the issue makes the ballot.

McElgunn said the project would bring a "world-class transportation system" to western South Dakota at a time when improving rail traffic is increasingly important to economic development and prospective business recruits. It also would improve commodity flow and provide a flurry of construction work in the area, he said.

"There is a significant level of support to get this thing moving," McElgunn said. "There is a limited window of opportunity to get this thing built. And putting it off another 10 years in a very tedious court process may take it outside that window."

Sioux Falls-based DM&E has been fighting a number of West River landowners over its plan to rebuild 600 miles of existing track and, especially, build 260 miles of new track from the Wall area to the Power River Basin in Wyoming.

The line would run down the Cheyenne River valley and around the southern Black Hills, splitting some ranches. The new law would set limits on the amount of time state government could take in deciding whether to approve the taking of land by condemnation, limit whether a hearing officer could be disqualified and stop circuit courts from hearing issues already decided by state agencies in condemnation hearings.

It would allow DM&E to take property while a dispute was in court, provided the company posted a bond established by the court.

Napoli said such provisions are what caused him to change his mind on SB174.

"The facts were really eye-opening for me, and it absolutely changed my mind 100 percent. You don't stay with bad law," Napoli said. "What bothers me the most is that DM&E could come in and destroy property and put a railroad right through the middle of it, and you might not get paid for eight or 10 years, depending on when they want to settle up."

Napoli said he and his wife have gathered more than 150 signatures themselves in the petition drive.

"When I go to a cafe, I take the petitions and pass it around and talk to people, and I've never been turned down," Napoli said.

Contact Kevin Woster at 394-8413 or kevin.woster@rapidcityjournal.com