Salix Iowa city officials continue to mull when to set the next date to hold a city council meeting in which a possible moratorium on data centers could be voted on.
The planned Wednesday meeting was postponed about eight hours ahead of its start, due to "death threats and terroristic threats."
Mayor Kevin Nelson on Thursday told Siouxland Public Media News that it appears the meeting will be made up on August 19th or 20th. The recent threats were reported to the Woodbury County Sheriff's Office, and Nelson said a few more came in over the last 24 hours, which he criticized.
The possible creation of a data center in the town of 300 people has been a controversial topic. In the most recent July meeting, more than 20 of the gathered 100 people spoke out. Some said a center would harm a quaint way of life, while others pointed to the economic benefits of jobs.
At that July Salix council meeting,the members voted 3-2 in support of a concept of such a one-year pause. There needs to be one more council vote to fully effectuate the moratorium.
The Google firm, which has many data centers across the nation, including Iowa, announced last week the company is in the early stages of evaluating a Salix site for a data center.
One of the latest Northwest Iowa counties debating placing a moratorium on a data center is Ida County, where a meeting was held this week. Moratoriums on data centers have been set over the last three months in Woodbury, Plymouth and Sioux counties.
