The Salix City Council voted 3-2 Wednesday night to make clear that no moratorium on data-center construction is currently in place in the small Woodbury County town, then turned around and voted 3-2 again to approve a memorandum of understanding with Google over a potential data center project. The twin votes cap months of back-and-forth in Salix over whether, and how, to regulate the industrial development heading its way.
Two 3-2 Votes, One Night
The first vote rescinded any moratorium that may have accidentally taken effect and affirmed that nothing currently bars data-center construction or development in Salix, according to KTIV, which reported that “that vote passed 3-2.” The second vote approved the memorandum of understanding between the city and Google, a deal first detailed by Yahoo News, which noted “the council voted 3-2 on a Memorandum of Understanding (MOU) between the City of Salix and Google.” As WBRC also reported, the council both clarified the moratorium question and approved the Google agreement the same night.
Under the MOU, Google has agreed to cover the cost of independent advisors the city hires to study the potential project's impacts, with a hard cap of $150,000 and a requirement that Google pay invoices within 30 days, per the same KTIV report. The agreement itself expires three months from its effective date, according to the Yahoo News account. The planned studies would look at effects on water and wastewater systems, threatened and endangered species, traffic and noise, KTIV reported.
Why the Moratorium Flip-Flopped
Salix's path to Wednesday's clarification has been anything but straight. The council first voted 3-2 to direct its attorney to draft a one-year moratorium on data centers while studying policy and ordinances, according to the Quad-City Times. The council later reversed itself, voting against implementing a 12-month moratorium on data-center development, as reported by Dakota News Now. Wednesday's vote was intended to put that confusion to rest by stating outright that no moratorium currently exists.
Google also addressed one of the most persistent local concerns directly: the tech giant said it will not source any cooling water for the potential project from the Dakota Aquifer, the same KTIV report noted. The pledge speaks to worries that have shadowed the project since it was first proposed.
Land Still Unsold, No Application Filed
Despite the deal-making, the underlying project remains speculative. The landowners have not sold the annexed property to MidAmerican, Google or anyone else, KTIV reported. No rezoning request or development application had been filed for the project as of publication, according to DatacenterDynamics, which first identified Google as a possible customer for the facility.
The land at the center of the dispute is nearly 900 acres that Salix annexed from Woodbury County in April, according to the Sioux City Journal. MidAmerican proposed the data-center project on that land in June 2026, targeting acreage bounded by Old Highway 75, 260th Street and Charles Avenue, per the DatacenterDynamics report.
County Challenges the Annexation
That annexation itself is now the subject of a legal fight. Woodbury County is seeking judicial review, with the county attorney's office and board of supervisors saying they do not believe the intent of Iowa law was followed in how Salix carried out the annexation, the Sioux City Journal reported in a separate article. Residents opposed to the development have raised their own concerns, pointing to the project's potential electricity and water consumption along with noise and environmental pollution, the Journal reported.
Salix is not alone in grappling with how to handle the data-center boom reshaping parts of Iowa. At least six cities and 10 counties statewide are considering policies to regulate the industrial use, according to the Business Record. Clinton's city council declined to implement its own moratorium in a split vote at a June 9 meeting, the outlet reported, while Linn County went the opposite direction, enacting an 18-month moratorium in a 2-1 vote that is set to expire Jan. 1, 2028. Palo's city council took a third approach, approving a data-center ordinance on July 20 that spells out where and how such facilities can be built within city limits.
Google's interest in Iowa predates the Salix proposal. The company pledged in June 2025 to invest $7 billion expanding its data-center footprint in the state, including a new Cedar Rapids campus and an expansion of its existing Council Bluffs campus, according to the DatacenterDynamics report. For now, Salix plans to develop its own data-center ordinance and consider bringing on an independent advisor to review whatever research Google's studies produce, the Yahoo News report noted.
