Floyd County supervisors discuss format for wind energy mediation report meeting

By Bob Steenson, bsteenson@charlescitypress.com

The Floyd County Board of Supervisors expects to hear a report in two weeks on the results and possibly recommendations from a confidential mediation group that has been discussing a potential Floyd County commercial wind energy ordinance in secret since being formed in November.

During the public comment time at the regular supervisors board meeting Monday morning, June 2, Mark Kuhn, a former county supervisor, asked the board about the format for that meeting planned for Tuesday, June 17.

“I’m just curious, some of the logistics where you’re going to have this meeting, what time and just a host of questions regarding it,” Kuhn said. “Especially because it’s my understanding you’re not going to have a supervisor’s meeting next week, is that correct?”

Supervisor Boyd Campbell, the supervisor vice-chair who was running the meeting in Chair Dennis Keifer’s absence, said it is correct that there will be no meeting next week, but he explained what he knows about the report by the mediation group – of which he is a member.

“From what I know, we will have the meeting on the 17th, which will be a regular supervisor meeting,” Campbell said. “It was decided by the group that I would make the presentation to the Board of Supervisors, what we came up with.”

He said it is his understanding that all the members of the mediation group will be at the meeting June 17.

The members are:

• Supervisor Campbell, who was not yet a supervisor when the board had started working on updating the county’s wind energy ordinance in the fall of 2023; he took office almost immediately after the election in November 2024, replacing Supervisor Jim Jorgensen who had been appointed to fill an open seat on the board.

• Floyd County Attorney Todd Prichard.

• John Robbins, a North Iowa Area Council of Governments senior planner who worked with the supervisors and the county Planning and Zoning Commission in coming up with the proposed wind energy ordinance.

• Samantha Norris, legal counsel for Invenergy Energy, one of two companies trying to develop new wind energy projects in the county.

• Thomas Reavely, an attorney with Whitfield & Eddy Law in Des Moines, who had been recommended by Supervisors Keifer and Jorgensen.

The mediator was Judge Louis Lavorato, who had served on the Iowa Supreme Court for 20 years. He has handled more than 1,000 mediations since 2007 involving a wide array of issues, according to his resume.

Lavorato and the mediation process had been suggested by Kuhn in November while Kuhn was still a supervisor. Kuhn’s term ended at the end of 2024, and he did not seek reelection.

Kuhn had been on the losing end of many 2-1 votes by Keifer and Jorgensen that heavily amended the proposed wind energy ordinance. Energy company representatives said new commercial wind projects would not be possible in Floyd County under the ordinance as amended.

Campbell said Tuesday morning that he didn’t think the meeting on June 17 would be an opportunity for public debate on the merits of wind energy or the mediation report, but he and Supervisor Gloria Carr both said it is the board’s policy to allow public comment on items being discussed.

Kuhn also requested that the mediation group present a map showing where its recommendation for a wind energy ordinance – if it makes a recommendation – would allow new wind turbines to be located in the county.

Campbell said he isn’t sure of the format Lavorato’s report will take.

“I’m anxious to see how he does this, also,” Campbell said.

Another of Kuhn’s points was that the supervisors’ boardroom in the courthouse likely wouldn’t be big enough based on the hundreds of people who had shown up for previous meetings where wind energy was on the agenda.

Carr said she doesn’t know if the Emergency Operations Center in the adjoining Law Enforcement Center – the board’s usual alternate site when a larger crowd is expected – would be big enough, either.

County Auditor Morrigan Miller suggested the two supervisors send meeting recommendations to her and she would work with Keifer when they put together the agenda for the June 17 meeting.

Also Monday morning, the board:

• Approved a letter to the international Accredited Economic Development Organization urging that group to approve the reaccreditation of the Charles City Area Development Corp.

Tim Fox, the CCADC chief executive officer, said the CCADC had first been accredited in 2021 and was one of only 87 development organizations in the world to have met the group’s requirements. He said being accredited by the group brings economic development benefits, and he thanked the supervisors for what he said was “a powerful letter” extolling the virtues of the CCADC and the importance of economic development in Floyd County.

• Approved a payment of $2,988.37 to law firm Ahlers & Cooney of Des Moines for Floyd County’s share among nine counties of the latest costs of a lawsuit against the Iowa Utilities Commission regarding the decision the commission made on a carbon dioxide pipeline in the state.

Carr said if Iowa Gov. Kim Reynolds signs a bill passed by the Legislature that would prevent eminent domain from being used for the pipeline, the county should consider whether it wants to continue the legal action.