CONTRIBUTED PHOTOS A screenshot from the livestream of the Wednesday, July 9 special meeting of the Tama County Board of Supervisors in Toledo. Vice Chair Heather Knebel (R-Traer), left, and Chairman Mark Doland (R-Toledo), center, listen as members of the public (far right) speak in favor of continuing the legal battle against Salt Creek Wind, LLC.

TOLEDO — A short and somewhat perplexing special meeting of the Tama County Board of Supervisors was held on Wednesday, during which the board unanimously approved a motion to continue pursuing legal avenues against NextEra Energy Resources’ Salt Creek Wind project despite the opinion of the board’s chairman that the time has come to lay down arms.

After approving the agenda and taking public comments, the board entered into closed session with attorneys Michael Reck and Haley Hermanson of Des Moines, who are representing the Board and County as defendants in the Feb. 5, 2025 lawsuit Salt Creek Wind, LLC v. Tama County Board of Supervisors/Tama County.

On July 2, District Judge David M. Cox entered an order temporarily prohibiting Tama County from taking action on the Jan. 6, 2025 wind moratorium as it relates to the Salt Creek Wind project. He also denied the County’s motion to dismiss, stating that Salt Creek Wind was “likely to succeed on the merits” of the petition.

After entering back into open session on Wednesday, the Board of Supervisors approved 5-0 a motion by Chairman Mark Doland directing counsel to move forward with the lawsuit minimizing costs as much as possible.

On Monday, July 7, Doland issued a statement addressing the July 2 ruling, writing, in part, “The court’s opinion makes clear the direction in which the final ruling is likely to go, and I do not believe that continuing to pursue litigation will change that outcome. As difficult as this is to accept, I believe it is time for us to shift our focus. Prolonging this legal battle will only deepen divisions and drain resources — both financial and emotional — that could be better spent on building a stronger future for our community.”

During Wednesday’s special meeting, Doland delved further into his reasoning in response to questions and comments from Tama County Against Turbines (TCAT) member Richard Arp of Dysart and another citizen in the audience.

“When I first started down this road – when we first started being sued, I laid out three criteria, and I conveyed this to (Supervisor) Heather (Knebel), as to where our roads might depart,” Doland began. “One of them was that [Salt Creek Wind] construction started and we couldn’t get an injunction stopping construction … They’ve now been in construction pretty actively.”

He said his second criterion involved the Board of Adjustment revoking both Salt Creek Wind’s Conditional Use Permit (CUP) and zoning certificate extensions; while the extensions were recently revoked, a hearing to revoke Salt Creek Wind’s CUP was scheduled to take place on Thursday, July 17 (as of press time). Doland said revoking the extensions “took a long time” and that original petitioner Bev Espenscheid’s recent decision to suddenly drop her appeal of said extensions only weakened the County’s case.

His third criterion involved the judge granting Salt Creek Wind a temporary injunction.

“My opinion is only my opinion and we have a full board,” he continued. “My opinion is, those were the indicators I set out at the very beginning … Those were the key guideposts that I followed and that’s why I sent out that message and that’s why I’m still continuing to hold that position. But, ultimately, I hope that we’re successful. But the likelihood that I see, in my own opinion, is it’s just not worth the cost in continuing.”

Later that afternoon following the meeting, Supervisor Knebel provided the following statement to the newspaper: “The Tama County Board of Supervisors have decided unanimously to continue moving forward in the lawsuit with Salt Creek Wind LLC. The law and the ordinance must be followed in all matters. This is part of the job we were elected to do. Therefore, the lawsuit must continue.”