Draft Agreement Between Data Center, Nodaway County at Attorney

A draft agreement between Nodaway County and the data center developer is at Attorney Travis Elliott’s, commissioners said at the regular meeting Thursday. The county’s lawyer does not take a position on the agreement, but advises the county on potential ramifications and consequences. The attorney will go through the agreement and then present it to the county. The county plans to talk again to the attorney this week.

The development agreement is negotiable, and the county would sign off on it. Commissioner Scott Walk said a design agreement would be part of a development agreement.

The county is also working on a road use agreement for the power station that is being built next to the proposed data center.

Visitors to the meeting Thursday had a lot of new questions regarding the data center given that one of the options for drawing water, drawing from the 102 River, runs right across land owned by Susie Strauch, who has been one of the biggest opponents of the project. “I was told by the company that they would not touch the 102,” said Commissioner Bill Walker. Donna Tomkins said she had tried to call Brock Pfost of White Cloud Engineering, overseeing the feasibility study, but he was out of the state.

While a private entity like Scale Microgrids, which is developing the proposed data center, can’t use eminent domain in Missouri, a public utility like Evergy, which is building a power station next to the proposed center, can.

While drawing water from underground did not seem like a viable option according to the draft feasibility study, there were still worries in the room that the data center might try it. Commissioner Bill Walker said that the company rep told him they had ruled it out. “But that rep could be gone tomorrow,” he said.

Commissioner Scott Walk said that the projects would be subject to DNR and EPA regulations, which left many people in the room unswayed. “The DNR acts after the fact,” said Ms. Strauch. “I guess after we die.”

Assessor Rex Wallace said that the tax and school revenue numbers provided by the March study showing a purported millions of dollars in tax revenues for the county and South Nodaway were “not even close.” And even if they resulted in a windfall for the county and South Nodaway, he said the money was not guaranteed. Mr. Wallace said there was no way of knowing how much revenues the proposed data center would generate without knowing the specifics of the project.

Some people at the meeting expressed surprise at the company getting an agreement to the county early. Tim Schafer said that he thought it would be before October before a solid plan was put together. “Nobody was prepared for this,” said Commissioner Walk. “So we’re getting help the best way we know how.”

Commissioner Walk said that he was told that “in a perfect world,” Scale would exercise their options to buy the land needed for the data center and start construction in the first quarter of 2027. That was enough to cause Ms. Strauch to worry about the effects. “They’ll affect the bees, which pollinate the soybeans. It will affect the farmers. The noise goes out farther than expected. It will affect Maryville,” she said.

Asked about making Scale pay for bringing water to their facility, Mr. Walk noted that Evergy is paying most of the cost for bringing the water from Savannah to their nearby power plant. He noted that Northwest paid to put in a turnoff at its new ag facility east of Maryville. He said it was typical for a new user to pay to bring water to their place.

One of the options discussed in the feasibility study was to get the water from Barnard. For that, Barnard would need a whole new plant; they have been dealing with wastewater issues, including two buildings that draw rainwater into the city sewer that create a lot more sewage than expected.

Scott Wilson said that there was a lot of uncertainty about how much water would be used for the data center, given that figures from 70,000 to 1.8 million gallons of water per day were tossed around. Jeff From said that typical operations use anywhere from 1.5 million to 5 million gallons of water per day.

Susie Strauch said that after leaving one data center meeting, her husband got an offer for cash for land. Commissioner Walk said he believed it was a scam text.

Commissioner Walk pledged to continue answering questions about the project. “We’re not afraid of answering questions,” he said. “We’re looking for an economic development person with knowledge of data centers. We’re looking for a tech advisor as well. You may not like our answers, but we will get them.”

Scott Wilson said that from what he had seen, Scale’s bread and butter was power projects, and wanted to see what they had done on other projects. Currently, they are working with an end user that is not known at this time. The proposed St. Joseph project that was recently abandoned had the developer as the end user. The data center projects in Montgomery County that were recently announced by the Governor are being operated by Amazon and Google.

“All this is done to keep us in the dark,” said Jeff From. Susie Strauch said that she  recently encountered a strange car with Ohio plates near her place. She said they advised her they were waiting for their crew and that they were taking core samples.

Kim Swyers talked about the effects she feared data centers would have on young people. She characterized Facebook founder Mark Zuckerberg’s motto as, “Move fast, create havoc, break things, go away.” A 2022 Snopes post said that one of Mr. Zuckerberg’s mottos was, “Move fast and break things.”

Ms. Swyers talked about a situation where an AI chatbot talked a young girl into committing suicide. When they found her journal and her chat logs, they added up. “These things are talking children into hurting themselves,” she said. She noted there was one recent protest at Capitol Hill where people held up pictures of children who were talked into killing themselves by chatbots. “This is evil. This is what’s going to come here. We may as well have demons,” Ms. Swyers said.

Ms. Swyers noted that Meta was hit with a $375 million verdict in New Mexico after a jury concluded that Facebook, Instagram, and WhatsApp harmed childrens’ mental health, made minors vulnerable to sexual exploitation, violated New Mexico’s consumer protection laws, and concealed internal knowledge about risks to children. Meta denied wrongdoing and is appealing. ABC News reported on the verdict on March 25th. While the $375 million verdict seems like a lot, ABC notes that Meta’s market cap sat at $1.5 trillion as of March 2026.

The New Mexico Attorney General, as quoted by ABC, said they would seek additional financial penalties and court-mandated changes that they say would offer stronger protections to children.

“They prey on us because they think we’re naïve and stupid,” Regina Brisbane, a new visitor, said. “They say they want to help,” said Commissioner Walk.
“They’re offering 100-150 permanent jobs. At what cost? Is there a cost? Yes. We have a governor who is pushing them.” Recently, Governor Mike Kehoe rebuffed calls for a special session to deal with issues involving data centers. “We’re getting conflicting advice. We have to listen and do the best we can,” Mr. Walk said.

 

 

Carolyn Hardy Marks 40th Anniversary on Alumni Board; Doug Gabbert Talks Beekeeping, Service to Country, and Life Lessons

Carolyn Hardy marked her 40th anniversary as a member of the Worth County Alumni Board Sunday. She has emceed the event for many years. There are four board members, Mary Kay Hunt, Carolyn Hardy, Rosa Williams, and Edith Miller. The board is looking for new members. Contact any board member if interested.

The school is looking to give away dozens of old trophies from the 1960’s to the present. The school tore down the storage shed at the southwest corner of the school and the trophies are located in the science room of the school for the present. Contact the school during regular business hours.

Ms. Hardy told a story in relation to the giveaway. Her husband, David, started up a computer program at the school in the 1980’s. In its first year, the school competed at a computer Olympiad against much bigger schools and won the whole thing. She found the trophy from that event among the many trophies the school had.

The association has been trying to keep track of graduates who passed away. Three that were noted were Troy Saville, Susan Hall, and Pat Swift.

Instead of the usual black and gold décor for the meal, the event was decked in patriotic colors for the country’s 250th anniversary.

This year, the association gave scholarships to Brayden Murphy and Sawyer Thurman. Last year’s honorees were Makenzie Walter and Eliza Corey. The association voted to raise the scholarship from $250 to $300.

There was $2,508.12 in the account at the start of last year. There was $306 raised from collections last year, $243 in alumni directory sales, and $750 given out in scholarships, leaving a balance of $2,237.02. There was $10,357.60 in the CD, with $220 being earned in interest.

The Family Circle Singers began one day in 1989 when the Hardy children, while riding in the back of their family’ s van, suddenly started singing, “Going to the Chapel of Love” while coming home from a family reunion. They tried their hand at it and won the talent show at Old Defiance Days that year and then the Worth County Fair. They sang at nursing homes in Worth County, Albany, Mount Ayr, King City, at weddings, and Veterans Day gatherings. They are now semi-retired. They have performed everything from Glenn Miller songs in the 1930’s and 1940’s to 1980’s. They sang “Fernando” from ABBA, a popular group in the 1970’s and 1980’s, and Lee Greenwood’s patriotic song, “Proud to be an American” in honor of the country’s 250th anniversary.

Doug Gabbert of the Class of 1976 spoke at the gathering. He wanted to go to Saudi Arabia and work in the oil fields there, but didn’t know how to make the connections. A friend introduced him to beekeeping, and he took after it and was a migratory beekeeper, moving periodically from Missouri to Florida until 1986, when he enlisted in the Army.

At one point, Mr. Gabbert went to North Dakota to the Badlands, near the border with Montana, where he heard it was really good for bees. His first year brought about a bumper crop, but it took four years for his next one. The weather was just as unpredictable as Missouri, as rainstorms would miss him and hit somewhere 50 miles away.

He noted that Theodore Roosevelt lived for a time in the Badlands and that he credited it with the skills that led him to becoming President. “I’ve embraced the strenuous life,” said Mr. Gabbert, although it almost backfired on him once. He and a friend were moving to Florida, when the alternator quit on their Ford F-600. This was in the days before cell phones and roadside assistance services. They got the alternator fixed, but then the truck wouldn’t start, and they were on level ground. They rigged up a ramp and tried to push-start the truck, finally doing so right as it got to the end of the ramp.

In looking at one of his friends who got a job right out of high school and stuck with it, Mr. Gabbert said, “I wasn’t ready to give up my childish things.” He said that he joined the Army because he watched World War II movies as a kid and always wanted to be a soldier. But he didn’t fit in well at the Army, as he was 10 years older than most of the other servicemen.

On the other hand, it was one of the easier jobs he ever had. It was during the height of the Cold War, he was stationed in Germany, and, “Our job was making things dirty and cleaning them again.” The Army pushed recreational activities because, as Mr. Gabbert said, “It was better than having solders being drunk on the base all the time.” A local German sports club let him play sports with them, and he learned he had talent as a singer and as an actor. The local theatres were always short of men, and they were always glad to have him.

Mr. Gabbert met his wife, Ellen, who worked at the Department of Defense. “She keeps me from flying too close to the sun,” Mr. Gabbert said. When she was transferred to Panama, he went with her and took up beekeeping again. Beekeeping was a boom or bust proposition; when the weather and the markets were good, they were really good; however, one can go a few years without turning a profit.

In the late 1990’s, changes came to the industry. Invasive pests meant that the bees he was using had trouble with disease, and at one point, the market fell through the floor as demand for honey cratered. So Mr. Gabbert went back to school and learned computer programming, which he still does to this day, although he still does beekeeping on the side. His job involves programming equipment for the railroad industry and then training operators how to use it, which requires a lot of travel on his part. It isn’t his first time working on the railroad; a chance encounter at Fern’s Drive-In led him to a job working on the railroad shortly after he graduated.

While most of his work is on the continent, Mr. Gabbert has worked in Egypt and Saudi Arabia and has had friends from all over the world. “Egypt has some of the friendliest people in the world,” said Mr. Gabbert. While hard at programming software for large machines, Mr. Gabbert and one of his best assistants, Niaz, fixed them up as well, which led one of his Saudi friends to say that he couldn’t believe a “softie,” which is a nickname for a computer programmer, could fix things up. “I was a farmer long before I was a softie,” said Mr. Gabbert. “If we saw things that needed fixed, we fixed them.”

Mr. Gabbert said that kids were lucky at Worth County to be able to participate in everything. In the school where he lives at, it is bigger than all the schools in the GRC combined and students have to choose a single focus. “I was able to try out everything and see what I was good at,” he said.

This year’s gathering collected $212 from the plate. They received a $50 donation for the scholarship fund. There were 33 graduates and three guests at this year’s gathering. The oldest class member attending was Clark Stabe of the Class of 1955. The Gabbert family had the most members present with three. The farthest away was Doug Gabbert from Florida. There were five members from the Class of 1965, five from the Class of 1971, and four from the Class of 1976. The Class of 1976 had a reunion at the Golf Clubhouse Saturday.

The next Alumni Reunion will be Sunday, June 27th, 2027 at 12:45 pm at the School.

 

 

Wind, Solar Project Proposed for DeKalb County

A wind and solar project is being proposed for DeKalb County, Across the County Line, a website covering Northwest Missouri, reports. It would be located just south of King City and east of Union Star, between Union Star and Fairport.

The project is being proposed by ENGIE North America and consists of two parts that would generate 800 megawatts of electricity. It would bring 21 wind turbines into the proposed area. The Empire Prairie Solar Project would be located on leased acres in Andrew and Gentry Counties and generate 400 megawatts.

 

Data Center Developer Withdraws Application in St. Joseph

A developer seeking to bring a data center to St. Joseph has withdrawn their application, the City of St. Joseph announced Friday.

Capstone Technology Campus, which would have been the end user of the proposed center, had requested the annexation of 6321 Pickett Road and the rezoning of both 6321 and 5701 Pickett Road in St. Joseph as part of the project. As a result, neither the rezoning requests and the annexation request will be voted on by either the Planning Commission or the St. Joseph City Council. A July 16th town hall regarding the center has also been canceled.

Any new proposal would require the submission of new applications and follow the city’s standard review process.

 

Weekly Area Roadwork for July 1st, 2026

Daviess County

Route 13 – Resurfacing and ADA improvements project from Berry Street to Van Buren Street in Gallatin through June 2026. Route 13 will be narrowed to one lane with flaggers. (Contractor: Herzog Contracting Corp.)

U.S. Route 69/Route 6 – Scrub seal project, June 30 – July 8. (Contractor: Vance Brothers, Inc.)

I-35 – Concrete replacement southbound between mile markers 79-74, June 29-July 2. The road will be narrowed to one lane around the clock.

I-35 – Pothole patching both directions from the 85.0 mile marker to the 61.0 mile marker, June 30-July 2.

Harrison County

Route W – Resurfacing project June 24- July 14. The roadway may be CLOSED or narrowed to one lane with flaggers. (Contractor: Emery Sapp & Sons, Inc.)

Route D – Resurfacing project June 26-July 20. The roadway may be CLOSED or narrowed to one lane with flaggers. (Contractor: Emery Sapp & Sons, Inc.)

Route T – CLOSED for a culvert replacement rom U.S. Route 136 to Route Y, June 30, 7 a.m. to 3 p.m.

Nodaway County

U.S. Route 71 – Resurfacing project from the Iowa state line to U.S. Route 136 near Burlington Junction through August 2026. The road will be narrowed to one lane, and a 10-foot width restriction will be in place.

U.S. Route 136 – Resurfacing project from I-29 to U.S. Route 71 through August 2026. The road will be narrowed to one lane, and a 10-foot width restriction will be in place.

Route FF – Ditching from Route B to 170th Street, June 29-30. The road will be narrowed to one lane, 8 a.m. to 3 p.m. daily.  

Route H – CLOSED for a culvert replacement from Route A to 375th Street, June 30, 7 a.m. to 3 p.m.

Route U – CLOSED for a culvert replacement from northbound U.S. Route 71 to Jett Road, July 1-2, 7 a.m. to 3 p.m. daily.

Route C – Ditching from U.S. Route 71 to Dynasty Road, July 1-2. The road will be narrowed to one lane, 8 a.m. to 3 p.m. daily. 

 

Brandon Allee Seeking to Follow Big Footsteps as County Clerk

Brandon Allee says that if elected as Worth County Clerk, he would have some big footsteps to follow. “Roberta Owens does things that people don’t realize she does,” Mr. Allee said. “I would have some big footsteps to follow.”

After Ms. Owens announced she would not seek reelection to the post, Mr. Allee said he was asked to run. He pledged no agenda, big ideas or easy answers, only to do what he is elected to do. His chief duties as County Clerk are keeping the minutes for the County Commission and overseeing the elections. But Mr. Allee said it all depended on the local election judges to keep the elections running smoothly. “I hope they all continue to serve regardless of which one of us wins,” he said.

Mr. Allee is running on the Republican ticket against Melissa Percell for the August 4th primary. The winner will become the next Worth County Clerk unless an Independent or write-in candidate emerges.

Mr. Allee is the son of Lisa (Allee) Reidlinger and Darwin Force. When he was in sixth grade, he went to live with his grandparents, the late Doy and Shirley Allee of Sheridan. “I’ve never wanted to leave Worth County since then,” he said.

Since he graduated from Worth County, he has worked at various jobs around the county, including for the county, Chris Fletchall, Steve Espey, and Sur-Gro. He has worked for the Road & Bridge crew and has worked as the gravel checker for the county. He has put the flag up at the Courthouse. He serves on the Sheridan Housing Board and the Isadora Cemetery Board.

Mr. Allee is married to Kayla and has one daughter, Payton, with another child on the way due in December. He lived in the former Doy & Shirley Allee residence after they passed away for a time, but recently moved into the former Viron Nelson residence east of Sheridan. He noted that the plaque with Mr. Nelson’s last business license from 1986  for his blacksmith shop was still on display in the shed, signed by Roberta Owens’ father, Bob Pierce.

 

Marvin "Burton" Messner 1942-2026

Marvin Burton Messner, 84, of Maryville, Missouri, passed away unexpectedly on June 22, 2026, at Mosaic Life Care in Maryville.

Burton was born on June 5, 1942, in Stanberry, Missouri, to the late Marvin and Lavenia (Shuster) Messner.

On March 1, 1964, he married the love of his life, Leota “Darlene” Wilkinson. Together they shared 60 years of marriage and were blessed with four children: twin daughters Becky and Brenda, son Rod, and daughter Marcie. Darlene preceded him in death on June 5, 2024.

Throughout his life, Burton was a dedicated and hardworking man. He was involved in farming, worked for the Missouri Department of Transportation, and owned and operated Messner Plumbing in Stanberry.

A faithful servant of the Lord, Burton served as a deacon and was an active member of each church community where he and Darlene lived, including Stanberry Baptist Church, Savannah Avenue Baptist Church, and most recently, Laura Street Baptist Church in Maryville.

In addition to his wife, Burton was preceded in death by his parents, Marvin and Lavenia Messner; his in-laws, Rex and Lillie Wilkinson; his sister and brother-in-law, Sharon (Ronnie) Graham; and his brother-in-law, Jerry (Cathy) Wilkinson.

He is lovingly survived by his children, Becky Ross; Brenda (Rick) Davis; Rod (Marci) Messner; and Marcie (Phillip) McIntyre. He also leaves behind his cherished grandchildren, Kacie (Brian) Wolff, Korey Ross, Kevin Ross, Rene (Colby) Griffith, Raven (Quinton) Kolbeck, Rachel Davis, Dakota Messner, Jessi Messner, Peyton Messner, Mateo Messner, Delainey McIntyre, and Dylan McIntyre. He is also survived by his sister, Sandra McGuire; his brother-in-law, Dave (Connie) Wilkinson; and many other relatives and dear friends.

In accordance with Burton's wishes, his body has been cremated under the care of Hann Funeral Home in Grant City, Missouri.

A Celebration of Life will be held at 11:00 a.m. on Monday, July 6, 2026, at Laura Street Baptist Church in Maryville, Missouri. Visitation with the family will take place from 9:00 to 11:00 a.m. prior to the service. A private family inurnment will follow at High Ridge Cemetery in Stanberry, Missouri.

Memorial contributions may be made to Three Rivers Hospice, 3901 Beck Road, Suite C, St. Joseph, MO 64506.

Arrangements are under the direction of Hann Funeral Home, Grant City, Missouri (andrewshannfuneralhome.com)