Tama County Administration Building, 104 W State St., Toledo, Iowa. SUN COURIER FILE PHOTO

TOLEDO – The public comment time got a little combative during the Monday, Aug. 18 meeting of the Tama County Board of Supervisors as the subject of the Salt Creek Wind Phase 2 settlement was brought up.

“The funds that were negotiated, the $1.2 million, we received $600,000 of that, you’re welcome. We negotiated that,” Chairman Mark Doland said at one point.

Tama County Zoning Commissioner and rural Clutier resident Doug Dvorak replied to this statement with an old aphorism.

“I don’t mean to be rude, Mark, but you said, ‘You’re welcome,’ for that $1.2 million. My mother-in-law used to say ‘don’t break yourself, don’t break your arm patting yourself on the back, Doug.’ And I would want to reiterate that because you’re working with a multi-million, probably billion-dollar (company) with NextEra. Sure, that sounds like a lot of money, but I think you could negotiate for more. Keep that in mind in the future.”

Doland and Dvorak then went back and forth about how much is considered a lot of money.

Doland’s fellow commissioner Jody Boldt also piped up on this topic, saying she thought the settlement of $1.2 million was suspicious knowing that the county was in debt $1 million.

Also during public comment, the board got down to brass tacks on solar as Commissioners Dvorak, Boldt, and Wade Mitchell talked about the proposed Commercial Solar Ordinance. They told the supervisors about all the hard work and research that went into the drafting of the ordinance. When the commercial solar ordinance came up on the agenda, the supervisors agreed that they all needed to read the ordinance in more depth. They approved postponing the item till next week.

Tama County Engineer Ben Daleske reported that H Avenue is still closed as they continue work. They are doing more ditch work on 275th Street just east of C Avenue, they have also had trucks out rock spotting and working on washouts. The flood water on Long Point (P Avenue) has receded and is now open.

Supervisors approved the chairman signing the 2025 Weed Commissioner Certification form for Laura Wilson. There was an update on the Aureon Fiber Project, which is moving forward.

Steve Meyer, the Civil Service Commissioner, asked to leave the position. The supervisors approved leaving him in as the interim commissioner until they find a replacement.

Claims totaling $200,677.82 were approved.

Special meeting with county engineer

Later that same day, the supervisors held a special 3 p.m. meeting to talk with Daleske. The supervisors offered to go into a closed session, but he declined.

The meeting started with Daleske going through and explaining a summary of the equipment the department has, uses, and why they need certain items. After his explanation, Daleske answered questions and explained things further as he relentlessly bounced his knee and clicked his pen. The supervisors then asked for a more thorough list of the equipment that Daleske said he’d provide within 30 days.

Daleske then went through the staff hierarchy and how things are managed. The department went from a two foreman structure to a single foreman structure a few years ago, and the supervisors were thinking that it might be good to go back to the two foreman structure. In the end, the supervisors had multiple ideas and suggestions for Daleske and decided to make a team of Curt Hilmer and Curt Kupka to meet regularly with Daleske about the department.