Proposed data center discussed during council meeting

SCOTT TRUXELL/independent editor

The only mention of a possible data center on Monday’s Van Wert City Council agenda was a reminder about a public hearing scheduled for next Monday. Nonetheless, discussion of a proposed data center dominated the the one hour and 15 minute meeting.

Public comments

Many of those in attendance at the meeting had comments, shared concerns or had questions about the proposed data center and related legislation.

One resident asked why there seems to be a rush to pass data center-related legislation, specifically emergency legislation.

“If a business wants to locate somewhere they want things to move quickly,” Fourth Ward Councilman Eric Hurless explained. “They’ve got their own deadlines – if they don’t meet those deadlines, they could be out tens of millions of dollars depending on the business, so when a business comes to a city wanting to locate in that town and they’re asking for an expedited process, we have a balacing act of protecting our constituents, doing our due diligence to research the changes that might come about with the zoning or code. Yet, we also want to make sure we do things in a timely manner.”

“I’ve done exhaustive research on data centers and AI (artificial intelligence) – I hear about it every day at my job,” he continued. “We’ve known about this coming for quite some time. I feel that we’ve done our due diligence and still continue to do it.”

Another audience member questioned why the data center wasn’t put on the ballot for residents to decide, but it was noted that residents don’t vote on incoming businesses.

Recent trip to central Ohio data center

Hurless, other council members and city officials recently toured a data center park in New Albany, which is home to 40 data centers with 28 more under construction. He said the group learned things good and bad.

“They’ve had five complaints (about noise) since 2015 and four out of the five were resolved within days,” he said. “There is one that’s ongoing with one data center but they’re fixing it. My point is it wasn’t all rainbows and unicorns at this presentation, we were learning about all of the benefits and some of the issues that they’ve had and learned from.”

It was also noted that in New Albany the data centers are near residential areas with very minimal noise.

“They are so quiet that we got off the bus and couldn’t tell,” Third Ward Councilwoman Julie Moore said. “I have mopeds that drive by my house louder than what these are.”

May 4 ground rules

A public hearing on a petition to re-zone the property I-2 General Industrial upon annexation into the city will be held at 6:30 p.m. Monday, May 4, in the First Federal Lecture Hall at the Niswonger Performing Arts Center.

There will be sign up sheets for anyone wishing to speak – one for city residents, one for residents adjacent to the property, one for county residents and one for people living outside the county. While signing up to speak won’t be mandatory, those who decline to do so will have to wait until those who did sign up have finished speaking. Each speaker will be heard once and will have two minutes to talk.

“Most importantly, we’re not going to tolerate disruption, we’re not going to tolerate incivility,” Council President Thad Eikenbary said. “If you speak, you’re going to speak at the mic, we’re not going to have sidebars and outbursts in the gallery. I was pretty displeased with the outbursts at the last several meetings and it’s not the way we should do business. Let’s be civil, let’s be respectful and we’ll have a productive meeting.”

May 11

Monday, May 11 is when a council vote is expected on the proposed annexation and re-zoning legislation.

One council member to abstain

Second Ward Councilman Greg Roberts informed the rest of council and the administration that he will abstain from upcoming decisions related to the data center, due to his employment with the Marsh Foundation, which previously owned the land in question.

Earlier on Monday

Late Monday afternoon, the city’s planning commission voted 3-0 to recommend amendments to city ordinances regarding acceptable use in I-2 General Industrial zoned areas. The proposed changes including the addition of the definition for data centers, adding a definition of a public service facility and allowing a data center as permitted use in an I-2 zoned area.

Approximately 30 people were in attendance at that meeting and approximately a dozen spoke, with at least one accusing city officials of “lining their pockets.” Another had evironmental concerns and another asked for a six month or one year moritorium. Yet another threatened a recall election.

After hearing public comments, the planning commission cast the 3-0 vote to recommend the amendments to Van Wert City Council.