With the Vienna Wind Farm turbines near Gladbrook visible along the horizon in the background, a staging yard for the Salt Creek Wind commercial wind energy project is pictured on Saturday, Nov. 23. The yard is located at the intersection of US 63 and 220th Street southwest of Traer. PHOTO BY RUBY F. MCALLISTER

TRAER – With the winds seemingly in their favor following the outcome of the most recent Tama County Board of Adjustment hearing, the developers behind Salt Creek Wind (SCW) appear to have recently entered the very early stages of construction along US 63 south of the Iowa 96 intersection.

Small equipment including some belonging to Rachel Contracting – a Minnesota based construction company with a portfolio that includes wind energy projects — recently turned up at the intersection of US 63 and 220th Street north of Van Wall Equipment in what appears to be a staging yard for the central Tama County commercial wind energy project long embroiled in controversy.

While no work seems to have begun as of press time on any of the turbine sites or the substation – for which SCW was issued new zoning certificates by Zoning Administrator Bob Vokoun on Sept. 16 – some driveways along US 63 have been put in with new rock marking the cuts.

During the Nov. 12 Board of Adjustment hearing in which the decision to issue SCW 60 new zoning certificates was affirmed in a board vote of 3-2, Vokoun was asked when construction on SCW’s project was slated to begin, to which he responded: “What I was advised, they would commence construction as soon as possible.”

This is a developing story.