A pipeline company will soon be headed to court or back to the drawing board now that the Lansing City Council has denied the company’s plans to build within city limits.

The council voted 7-1 Monday against Wolverine Pipe Line’s request for consent to build about 5 miles of its proposed 26-mile gasoline pipeline in Lansing, and now company executives are weighing their options.

The decision leaves Wolverine to either find another route, take the city to court or ignore the council’s decision.

Wolverine spokesman Tom Shields has said the company might not need the consent of municipalities because the current plan calls for the pipeline to be laid within the Interstate 96 right-of-way, which is owned by the state.

Wolverine officials say company executives want to work within state laws.

“I don’t think I necessarily feel as strongly about it as Tom does,” said Paul O’Konski, head of Wolverine’s law department. “The statute is there, and we’ll work with that.”

Shields said the council’s decision is “disappointing” because the company had worked hard to reach an agreement with the Lansing Board of Water & Light.

“Obviously construction this year will be delayed,” Shields said, adding that the company could opt for a previous plan that doesn’t go through city limits.

But that option would still require Wolverine to reapply to the Michigan Public Service Commission.

The commission’s July 23 decision to approve the pipeline could have been appealed, but City Attorney Jim Smiertka told the council Thursday an appeal would likely take about two years.

If the council had approved the project, the city charter provides the mayor with veto power over any council action. The mayor has been against the project since Wolverine applied to the commission in December.

Council President Larry Meyer was the lone council member who opposed denying consent.

“I didn’t run with the crowd that said, ‘Hell no, not here,’” Meyer said. “I wasn’t going to get caught up in extreme exaggerations.”

Meyer said he had three specific concerns with the pipeline, all of which were addressed in the 21 agreements the Board of Water & Light negotiated with Wolverine.

The additional safety precautions could be in jeopardy if the council denied consent, Board of Water & Light General Manager Joe Pandy told the council Thursday.

“We’re fearful that we couldn’t get these safeguards if you vote ‘No,’” Pandy said to the council. “Everything we could ask for was reasonably addressed. We are satisfied.”

Meyer said it’s impossible to make a pipeline perfectly safe, and he wasn’t surprised by the other council members’ votes.

“I felt secure in my vote,” he said.

Staff writer Amy Bartner contributed to this report