Heather Knebel.

Happy Labor Day and start of the school year! I cannot believe August is over already. The summer months seem to go by so fast, but the cooler air is refreshing and finally a slow down on lawn mowing.

One of the main topics discussed by the Board of Supervisors in August was the Salt Creek Wind II Project. This is a proposed project consisting of 27 industrial wind turbines located between John Deere Van Wall (Toledo), east of Garwin, North of Toledo, and west of Otter Creek Lake. The Conditional Use Permit application was submitted around December 20, 2024. The Board of Adjustment has not had a hearing on this CUP application yet because of the Moratorium and uncertainties around whether it applies to this application or not. The Board of Supervisors decided to discuss what a settlement would look like with Salt Creek Wind II including a Decommissioning Plan, Development Agreement and a Road Use Plan. There are some concessions we can get in writing that aren’t in our 2010 wind ordinances. The ordinances are very outdated and, in my opinion, do not protect the people that live around them. Industrial wind turbines have become much taller since 2010. I believe the Board of Adjustment should be allowed to have a hearing and decide based on the ordinance currently in place, if the CUP application should be approved or denied. I don’t feel the Board of Supervisors should make this decision, and that is what would likely occur if a Settlement were agreed upon by the majority of the Board of Supervisors, especially if all ordinances are not being met. Our Tama County ordinance states the Board of Adjustment as the decision maker for approving Conditional Use Permits and granting variances. The County Engineer should approve the Road Use Agreement and the Board of Supervisors would have final approval.

The Board of Supervisors are having a Public Hearing on September 8, 2025, at 9:30 a.m. in the Supervisors Room for the public to weigh in on the Salt Creek Wind II topic. Another meeting will be held on September 11, 2025 at 6 p.m. at the State Bank of Toledo Community Room in Toledo, IA. If you have comments and cannot attend the hearing please reach out to your Supervisor or Karen Rohrs at krohrs@tamacounty.org. You could also virtually join our Board of Supervisor meeting using the link on our Agenda from the Tama County Website to provide a comment via Microsoft Teams. Copies of the agreements and map of the wind turbine locations can be found online on our Board of Supervisor page at www.tamacounty.iowa.gov. Everyone within the project area should have received a letter in the mail about this hearing. Please speak up no matter which side of the fence you are on, as we appreciate feedback and comments from our constituents. In my opinion, the Settlement should be denied until the Board of Adjustment has a hearing to review the merits of the Conditional Use Permit submitted by Salt Creek Wind II.

Tama County received the first $600,000 payment from Salt Creek Wind LLC for the Phase 1 project as the first turbine was erected, which was one of the items in the settlement agreement. The wind turbines are going up very quickly as you can see if you drive by or live in the project area. I have received several complaints about roads and several near miss accidents in the construction area and have addressed these with NextEra and our County Engineer. I have been working to get dust control or water applied on haul route roads due to all of the construction related traffic. Please reach out to Ben Daleske or me if you have any road concerns not yet reported.

The Tama County Zoning Commission finalized their recommendation to the Board of Supervisors on the Utility-Scale Solar Energy Ordinance. It is now up to the Board of Supervisors to review the document, make any changes, have the county attorney review it, and then have a public hearing on the new ordinance. I am very grateful for our Zoning Commission as they did an amazing job researching, discussing, and putting together the draft ordinance. This ordinance will only apply to large scale industrial solar, as we already have a separate ordinance for residential solar. The Zoning Commission has now started work on updating the industrial wind ordinance. Their meetings are all public and you can join in person or watch virtually via Microsoft Teams.

Supervisor David Turner is working on IT for the County and was able to get a contract signed with Aureon for the new phone system and backup network. Copy machine contracts have been discussed, as Tama County is currently spending over $700 per month per copy machine. We currently have a couple of extra machines; however the contract does not expire until 2027. We plan to review this copy machine contract and ensure we evaluate how many we truly need before renewing the contract. This has been on my radar from the moment it showed up on our weekly claims in January.

The Board of Supervisors had a meeting with the County Engineer to discuss equipment, staffing structure, and projects. The Board would like to see an equipment replacement plan, improvements in training, possible management structure changes, etc. Curt Hilmer and Curt Kupka will be working with the County Engineer to make improvements in the secondary road department.

During a Board of Supervisor meeting, the Board approved a $5,000 donation for renovations to the bandstand located on the Tama County Courthouse lawn. The bandstand is owned by the City of Toledo but is on county property. They are looking for more donations if anyone wants to help. You can send donations to the City of Toledo.

Supervisor David Turner and I visited Jeff Kolb, Economic Development Director of Butler/Grundy County, in Allison, IA. Jeff was a wealth of knowledge on Economic Development and has done some amazing things in Butler County. He paved the way for a huge industrial park in rural Butler County that will bring in millions of dollars in taxes in just a few years. He worked with IDM (Institute for Decision Making) located on the University of Northern Iowa campus. We are now also working with IDM to help revamp Tama County Economic Development. Jeff works alongside utility companies, bankers, supervisors, and business leaders for funding and decision making. He shared that Housing Need Assessments can be done to help figure out what housing is needed in the county. Our next step is to have an Economic Development work session presented by UNI Institute for Decision Making with county business leaders, elected officials, and interested parties, slated for early October. Please reach out to me or your County Supervisor if you are interested in coming and we will make the arrangements for you to attend once the date is finalized.

On August 25, the State Workforce Development Board approved the merger of the South Central Workforce Development Board and the Mississippi Valley Workforce Development Board to create a more unified and resilient workforce system to serve businesses, job seekers, and communities across 22 counties in Iowa. This merger is due to a significant reduction in federal funding. Collaboration is needed to try and retain local control rather than by the State of Iowa. This merger ensures we can continue to support economic growth, connect job seekers to training and careers, and help businesses find the skilled workforce they need. Both Boards will remain separate until July 1, 2026, when they merge as one Board with a new name yet to be determined.

As usual, please reach out with any questions or concerns!

Supervisor Heather Knebel (R-Traer), the first elected female supervisor in Tama County history, represents District 3, including the townships of Spring Creek, Crystal, Perry, and parts of far northern Carlton (excluding Garwin) and Howard. She can be reached at 641-481-2532 or hknebel@tamacounty.org.