Scott County supervisors postpone vote on zoning change to allow thermal electric plants after hours of public comment

Scott County supervisors voted unanimously on Oct. 23, 2025 to postpone indefinitely consideration of a zoning text amendment that would add thermal electric generating facilities to the list of special permitted uses in the county's Agricultural Preservation (AP) zoning district.

The decision followed a presentation by Greg Schottfeld, the county's Planning & Zoning director, who explained the process the board would follow if it acted on the amendment and emphasized that approval would create only a special-use category, not site-specific permits or construction rights. "If approved tonight and approved at a second reading, it does not give Central Iowa Power Cooperative any permission to do anything on any site," Schottfeld said, describing the separate county and state reviews any site-specific application would face.

Representatives of Central Iowa Power Cooperative (CIPCO) described the proposed Hickory Grove Generating Station and addressed questions about jobs, contractor selection and environmental oversight. Andrew, speaking for CIPCO, said the cooperative would require bidders to disclose what percentage of local skilled labor they plan to employ and that as a Rural Utility Service borrower CIPCO must follow competitive-bidding standards. CIPCO's engineer, Sam Honnold, said the plant would source water from an on-site well and that the company's…