10-2070. Use of roads and streets; notice; protest

A. A cooperative shall have the use of, and the right is expressly granted to it to use, the public highways, county highways and streets and alleys in or outside the service area of the cooperative. The cooperative may construct and operate lines connecting any points within the state and connect at the state boundary with like lines.

B. Within the confines of municipal corporations however, use and occupancy of streets shall be under such rights as may be acquired by franchises according to law, and subject to control and regulation by municipal authorities, and the use of public highways, except state highways, by cooperatives not within the confines of an incorporated city or town, shall be regulated by the board of supervisors of the county, by license or franchise. The board of supervisors in granting the license or franchise, or at any time after it is granted, may impose such restrictions and limitations as to the use of the public roads as may be deemed best for the public safety or welfare. Every franchise granted under this section shall include provisions requiring the grantee to bear all expenses, including damage and compensation for any alteration of the direction, surface, grade or alignment of any county road, made for the purpose of such franchise.

C. The board of supervisors before granting the privileges contemplated by this section, shall give public notice of its intention to make the grant, by publishing notice in some newspaper of general circulation, published within the county, for at least once a week for three weeks prior to the day set for the consideration of such action. If, on or before such date, more than fifty per cent of the qualified electors of the county petition the board of supervisors to deny the privilege, they shall so act, and any privilege granted contrary to the petition shall be void.