Nashua council shifts into multiple closed sessions under Iowa Code to discuss litigation strategy

The Nashua City Council voted to end open session and enter closed session at 7:17 PM under Iowa Code §21.5(1)(c) to "discuss legal strategy with Counsel in matters that are presently in litigation or where litigation is imminent," according to the minutes. The council returned to open session at 7:34 PM after a briefing from Special Counsel Roger Stone, then briefly reclosed before reopening and taking a vote authorizing a settlement.

The minutes show repeated procedural motions to enter and exit closed session, each carried by roll call votes recorded as "all ayes." The sequence included: a first closed session called at 7:17 PM; resumption of open session at 7:34 PM; a motion by Jake Johnson to reclose and resume closed session at 7:35 PM; and a final reopening at 7:35 PM after further questions were answered. The meeting adjourned at 7:36 PM. The minutes do not include the substance of the council's closed-session deliberations beyond identifying the dam mediation as a subject of counsel's update.

Because the discussions took place under the closed-session statute cited, the minutes provide only high-level record of timing, motions, and outcomes rather than argument details or evidence presented to council.