*The Dickinson County Board of Supervisors on Tuesday debated, but tabled the possibility of an action that would reverse another county panel’s decision two weeks ago to allow a wind turbine project to begin.
The means by which to halt the project came in a possible resolution to place a six-year “moratorium on future renewable energy projects.”
Dickinson County Supervisor Stephen Dullard was among the supervisors who wanted that measure to be pondered.
On April 30, the Dickinson County Board of Adjustment unanimously voted for the Red Rock Wind Energy Farm with 67 turbines to proceed, after a final hearing that lasted four hours.
In 2023, the board turned down permits for the project. The proposal the Board of Adjustment approved included fewer wind turbines and farther setback distances in eastern Dickinson County.
The county supervisors on Tuesday began a discussion on the moratorium, and heard from people on both sides of the issue. An attorney for Red Rock cautioned the supervisors against enacting a moratorium, saying it could be construed as a “bad faith” action.
The supervisors eventually voted to table a vote on the moratorium to a future meeting, before which County Attorney Steve Goodlow may clarify the language. A Dickinson County official told Siouxland Public Media that that meeting could be a few weeks off.
*Additionally, the North Sioux City Commission members are continuing to work towards helping residents bounce back from June 2024 flooding that impacted the McCook Lake area.
The commissioners in a Monday meeting discussed selecting a plan that will ideally help reduce any future flooding impact in the McCook Lake area of town.
The commissioners are working with the Stockwell Engineers consulting firm on possible plans. They are looking back for lessons from the June 2024 flooding event that wreaked havoc in North Sioux City, including heavy damage to many homes at McCook Lake.
Many homes on McCook Lake had to be completely removed.
Some possibilities include redirecting water runoff along Interstate 29 through a culvert underneath North Shore Drive or redirecting runoff from McCook Lake to the Missouri River a few miles away. Large gated control structures could also be placed in the area.
More public meetings will be held in the future towards the goal of getting wide community input for a final decision, after many residents have been vocal about what they thought were poor prior decisions about the flooding response.
In a related topic, the commissioners decided that, when it comes to repairing North Sioux City roads damaged by last year’s flood, Penrose will be finished before reconstruction of North Shore Drive.
*In other news, the quest to launch a community-based day care facility in Moville, Iowa, received a financial shot in the arm from the Woodbury County Board of Supervisors.
Officials with the non-profit Moville Community Development Association asked the county for $250,000, and received $150,000 by the end of the weekly Tuesday county board meeting.
MCDAI officials Stee Maxwell and Robin Beck said a 2024 study showed Moville has a distinct shortage of day care providers. They are working towards launching the Moville Area Childcare Center in a wing of the Methodist Church in town that could serve 50 children.
The project could cost about $950,000 for remodeling and operating costs, and $260,000 had been raised prior to the county financial request.
In approving the $250,000 amount to the Moville project, county officials said they will tap the fund that holds local option sales tax money.
The Moville group plans to use the Crittenton Center in Sioux City to manage the day care.
*Former federal Transportation Secretary Pete Buttigieg visited Cedar Rapids Tuesday for a town hall hosted by the VoteVets Action Fund.
Iowans filled the Veterans Memorial Building, where the former naval officer and 2020 presidential candidate took questions regarding actions made by the Trump Administration.
He also addressed reports that the White House is looking at suspending the right to habeas corpus. Buttigieg called it a threat to preventing wrongful imprisonment and deportation, and said the issue is not a normal Democrat-Republican fight.
“I am convinced that members of Congress and the president's party know that this is wrong. They also know where their bread is buttered. They live in an environment where they have more to fear from the President of the United States than the people of the United States,” he said.
This event marks the third Iowa appearance from a high-profile Democrat since the start of the Trump administration. Vermont Senator Bernie Sanders was in Iowa City and Minnesota Governor Tim Walz stopped in Des Moines earlier this year.
