The Carroll City Council voted 4-2 at last night’s (Monday) meeting to authorize the Iowa Communities Assurance Pool (ICAP) to proceed with a tentative settlement agreement for a pending lawsuit. The council met in closed session under Iowa Code 21.5(1)(c), “To discuss strategy with counsel in matters that are presently in litigation or where litigation is imminent, where its disclosure would be likely to prejudice or disadvantage the position of the governmental body in that litigation.” Following the nearly hour-long meeting with the city officials and ICAP representatives, the council returned to open session and voted 4-2, Council Members JJ Schreck and Kyle Bauer voting no, to authorize ICAP to proceed with a tentative settlement agreement with Chloe Bandow, who was named in the city’s motion. The direct cost to the city would be their policy’s $2,000 deductible, and the remainder of the settlement would fall to ICAP. Details of the agreement or the situation that led to the settlement have not been released yet. However, court records show Bandow was arrested on Nov. 24, 2024, by the Carroll Police Department and booked into the Carroll County Jail on charges of assault on persons in certain occupations, a serious misdemeanor, and first-offense domestic abuse assault, a simple misdemeanor. The court later dismissed the assault charge, while Bandow received a deferred judgment on the domestic. The Carroll County Board of Supervisors voted unanimously Monday morning to authorize ICAP to settle the issue and avoid litigation at a cost of $3,000 to the county.
