Nodaway County Presiding Commissioner Bill Walker gave outlines of what a possible data center moratorium would look like at the Nodaway County Commission Meeting Thursday morning. Such a measure would be from six to twelve months, would be renewable, and have to have a specific purpose in mind such as collecting information.
On Monday, July 6th, FOX 4 KC reported that the Independence City Council passed a 180-day moratorium on data centers. It applies only to new projects or applications that have not already been submitted to, authorized, or approved by the city. It allows the city time to review city ordinances, state regulations, zoning requirements, fire codes, infrastructure, and other impacts. Nodaway County does not have zoning, fire codes, or ordinances. A zoning measure would have to be approved by a vote of the people and it would take two additional years to set up the board, pass zoning regulations, and create enforcement mechanisms. The Independence moratorium may be extended if additional time is needed.
The City of Independence is also conducting a recall election for Councilman John Perkins, who voted for a $150 billion tax incentive plan for a data center there despite widespread public opposition. Unlike cities, most county commissioners cannot be recalled.
In the meantime, Susie Strauch said that surveyors were back surveying the land to determine feasibility for a data center site at the site in question south of Maryville near the power substation. She said they had been there seven times now and that they were now interested in the south side of 250th Road. “Every day I see more and more people surveying,” she said. “It gets more and more frustrating.”
Ms. Strauch said that people in Bedison and elsewhere were being approach. David From said that he thought it might be a power generation facility, while Commissioner Scott Walk said that his family’s trust gets approached by people wanting to buy land it owns all the time.
Mr. From was for a moratorium. “It would give us more time to investigate this and do independent analysis,” he said. He expressed a safety concern regarding the facility. “There is no way the Barnard Fire Department will have the capacity to handle it if a major fire breaks out there,” he said.
A supporter of the project, Bruce Skoglund, said that as a school superintendent for 18 years, he saw the possibility of revenue that would more than offset state budget cuts to local schools. Mr. Skoglund said that if the county passed a moratorium, it would amount to government overreach and could be opening itself up to a massive lawsuit. “And then you lose the project and lose a lot of money as well,” he said. “If they’re as evil as certain people say they are, they will sue.”
Mr. Skoglund addressed the idea of zoning. He said that if the county went to zoning, it would create a new set of problems, as farmers would not be happy at new restrictions. He is the father of current South Nodaway Superintendent Dustin Skoglund and served as South Nodaway Superintendent for several years.
“I’ve been in school administration for 35 years, and I’m against it,” said Mike Hardy. Mr. Hardy said that he had seen a lot of things cross his desk during that time and, “This is one of the craziest things I have ever seen.” He said that the people have already been here for a long time and that the commission should listen to them. “I’m having a hard time just getting a road fixed,” he said.
“We’ve always supported South Nodaway,” said Ms. Strauch. “When you live within a quarter of a mile, you’ll think differently.”
Dustin Skoglund, South Nodaway Superintendent, asked about a community development agreement. “If it’s done responsibly, would it change peoples’ minds?” he asked. Commissioner Chris Burns a moratorium would give commissioners time to look at everybody’s concerns and work them into a development agreement. “I agree that a development agreement should answer everyone’s questions,” he said.
Commissioner Walk said one of his concerns was water figures, which he said were all over the map. “I’m going to insist on hard figures in a development agreement,” he said. While the commission can’t control the transfer of property from one person or entity to another, a community development agreement would be legally binding if signed by the county commission and the data center. But the data center could begin construction without one.
Mr. From brought up noise concerns, saying he didn’t buy the promise from one of the data center’s handouts at the community meeting that was held at Mozingo in June that the noise would be kept to 50 decibels of noise or less. “It’s a matter of people being around that noise 24/7,” he said.
The county met in closed session that afternoon with its attorney to further discuss legal matters related to the proposed data center.
