Tama County Administration Building, 104 W State St., Toledo, Iowa. -- File photo

TOLEDO – Citizens awoke Monday to a winter morning covered in frost. Braving the chilly air in knit caps and mittens, the usual group made their way to the week’s supervisors meeting. The public comment time kicked off the meeting with last week’s wind moratorium being the main subject. A project director for Salt Creek Wind spoke about the wording of the moratorium, stating that an amendment should be made to the moratorium stating that it does not affect already permitted projects. Former supervisor Bill Faircloth also voiced concerns about the wind moratorium’s wording.

“I don’t know, but in a multi-million dollar project like this, I don’t think verbal’s good enough. So, I would suggest you put a clause in there to take care of the problem,” Faircloth said.

Other members of the public spoke on the subject, saying they thought the moratorium was adequate as is.

Once the citizens in attendance were heard, the supervisors moved on with the engineer’s report which told of the brush cutting that has been going on on various roads throughout the county. The engineer also said that 32 applications were received for the open Traer position, and interviews were being scheduled. The supervisors approved the Tama County Pledge of Safety Action Plan.

The topic of livestreaming was once again on the agenda, and this time, action was taken. The supervisors approved getting a $500 laptop and a device called an Owl for $1,049 along with a $69 carrying case. The Owl is a camera, microphone, and speaker all in one, specifically designed for meetings and video conferences. Once the equipment is acquired, the supervisors will start live streaming via Zoom, with the videos of the meetings then saved and appearing on YouTube.

After the last meeting, Supervisor Curt Kupka got quotes from two different companies regarding acquiring cell phones. The supervisors approved going with US Cellular, which would provide five free phones and cost approximately $125 a month.

An audit of the Tama County Human Resources department by the third-party company PJ Greufe & Associates LLC was approved. The audit will cost approximately $2,500 and will look into all aspects of the department.

The Sheriff’s Year-End report and the Recorder’s Quarterly report were approved. Sally Custer was re-appointed to the Board of Health.

The supervisors also approved putting Karen Rohrs, the new County Auditor, on the Tama County Auditor’s checking account, and removing the previous auditor’s name.

Claims totaling $197,690.05 were approved.