Report on Board Meeting – 1/12

Thanks to everyone who came out last night to the Township Board meeting. CS Bugle is reporting that about 130 people were there, which sounds about right from what I saw. They actually had us remove the chairs to be able to fit all the people into the room.

You can listen to the board meeting here – the audio isn’t great and the transcript is a bit dodgy, but if you’re patient and turn your volume up, you can hear most of it.

A lot of people spoke, so it’s probably easiest to summarize what most of the common points were, from both the speakers and the board:

• Bob Ellick (Township Supervisor) stated that at this time there is no proposal in front of the board
• Discussion about water usage – different numbers thrown around about how much water could be potentially be used, and what affect that would have on the locals
• Concerns about power usage and how that may affect energy prices
• Several people expressed concerns about the possible environmental and health impacts; could this introduce contaminants into our water or the ground?
• Noise and light pollution was another major topic brought up, as well as concerns about how that would affect nearby residents and wildlife
• Questions came up about the location (answer: Moore farm) and what exactly is being planned. At that point, representatives from The Right Place and Dermody were introduced; they didn’t contribute a ton to the discussion because pretty much anything they were asked, we were told they couldn’t tell us yet. Offers were made by them to do an educational session at the next meeting.
• Some people pointed out that if we can’t stop this from going in, let’s make sure that we get lots of guard rails & protections in place, and make sure that it’s built in such a way as to not affect the surrounding community
• A lengthy discussion with Mark Hoskins (Planning Commission) in which he asked (paraphrasing), “Well, would you rather a housing development with 700 houses went in there instead?” (there was a strong response of yes from the crowd)
• Multiple people (including myself) asked for a concrete idea of how this can be stopped – who has the authority to do so? The Board? The Planning Commission? Can’t they just refuse to zone that area for a data center? Put a moratorium on further planning/discussion of it? We never really got a straight answer on this, and were told it would all be discussed at the Planning Commission.
• Many statements about how this is the beginning of the fight, and we’re going to all have to commit to coming to more of these meetings and get our voices heard.

My Personal Take-Aways

These are just my own opinions/observations, so take them for what they’re worth.

• As I stated last night when I spoke, I personally don’t feel that the board members are showing that they have our best interests at heart, and here’s why:
  • Why were the representatives from The Right Place and Dermody there? Who invited them? Was it the Board? Why? Organizations like that do not attend meetings like this casually, and their presence suggests that this project is much further along than we are being told.
  • At the start of the meeting, we were told that no formal proposal had yet been presented to the Board, with the implication that the Board had little knowledge of the situation. However, as the meeting progressed, more and more information came to light: The board has known about this since August. The company interested in the land wants to use a closed-loop cooling system. They’re looking for around 800-1000 acres. It became clear that the Board has been aware of and communicating with developers for some time. This piecemeal disclosure and lack of transparency does not inspire confidence or trust.
  • Equally troubling was the Board’s refusal to provide a clear answer on how residents can stop this project. This should not be a complicated question! The Township Board has the authority to prevent this development by denying rezoning requests or by placing a moratorium on data center projects. Yet they would not even acknowledge these options, much less commit to pursuing them. Instead, residents were told to bring their concerns to the Planning Commission meeting on January 28 at 7:00 p.m.
  • The general attitude from the Board was irritation and indifference. This was a topic that a lot of people are upset and concerned about, and I imagine most of us would like to think that our elected officials actually care about a) hearing our concerns, and b) doing what the majority of the community wants. Suggesting that showing up in large numbers is “counterproductive,” and attempting to frame the only alternative as a 700-home housing development, comes across as dismissive and intimidating, and further undermines public trust.
• Having said all that – as our elected representatives, I think the board does deserve our respect (unless and until they prove that they don’t). There’s a lot of wild rumors going around about nepotism and kickbacks and board members making money off of this. Personally, I think we should refrain from any sort of statements like that unless you have proof.
• I think the big question that needs answering is: What is the benefit to this community of such a data center? Increased tax revenue is one answer that has been floated, but if they’re getting tax breaks, are we going to see that revenue? Do the many, many negatives associated with data centers outweigh that single benefit? And surely a data center is not our only option in regards to getting tax revenue from that area!
• Finally, this really is only the beginning of the fight – if the Board is going to try to push this through, we’re going to have to fight hard. We need to go to the meetings and we need to organize – I’m currently looking for volunteers to help with action items for this issue, so please consider volunteering!

• Category: Local Updates