Public hearing to be held on Monday

VW independent staff

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

The hearing is being held to gather public input from anyone for or against a proposed $10 billion data center at the site. It will not be a question and answer session.

There will be sign up sheets for anyone wishing to speak. One will be 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.

Previous discussions about the proposed data center at recent planning commission and Van Wert City Council meetings have been tense to say the least. Ground rules have been established for Monday’s meeting.

“We’re not going to tolerate disruption and we’re not going to tolerate incivility,” Van Wert City 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.”

No action will be taken at the hearing. A vote on re-zoning and annexation is expected to take place at the May 11 meeting of Van Wert City Council.