Nodaway County Seeks Development Agreement With Data Center

Nodaway County Commissioner Scott Walk, in response to a question, said that the county was seeking a development agreement in writing before construction began at the proposed data center south of Maryville. Mr. Walk said that he would be "adamant" that Scale buy water from the Nodaway County Rural Water District and not dig below the surface to get water, which many nearby residents fear could contaminate or dry their wells. Many people in that area have well water and are not on city or rural water. Nodaway County Assistant Economic Developer Kim Mildward said that Scale had agreed to a development agreement that would then be assigned to the end user. 

But for a lot of opponents of the project, it came down to trust. "They will dig if they can't get enough water," said Susie Strauch.

Scott Wilson reported on a public forum that he organized in Barnard at the former DOT building that attracted 100 people. All three commissioners were present and answered questions. Mr. Wilson is seeking the Presiding Commissioner's seat against Chris Burns as an Independent. Incumbent Bill Walker is not seeking reelection. In order to get on the November ballot, Mr. Wilson must get at least 128 signatures from people residing in Nodaway County and who are registered voters by July 27th at 5:00 pm according to the Missouri Secretary of State's website. That figure is 2% of the voters who voted in the last Presiding Commissioner election in Nodaway County.

Mike Hardy told the commission that the proposed data center was a public safety and health hazard. "We've seen it everywhere, and it's not good news," Mr. Hardy said. "It's all about the greed and money."

Commissioners have consistently said that they were waiting on more information regarding the data center and that they were neutral. One of the pieces they are waiting on is the results of a feasibility study that the Rural Water District was conducting to see what options the data center had to build its plant. "We have to take an objective look and get all the facts," said Commissioner Bill Walker. "Does it create jobs and money? Maybe, but you can't put a number on public health."

Commissioners were asked about the progress their lawyer was making on options they had for passing a moratorium. County Clerk Melinda Patton said that she sought to contact them and got an auto-reply back saying he was out of the office and was conducting a trial from the 10th to the 19th. "I wouldn't do that to you, I would hand it off to someone else," responded Mr. Hardy. 

There were a lot of questions about who has the stop button, if not the commissioners. The DNR, which regulates water and wastewater in Missouri, is the main regulator, and most water operations require a permit. Permit applications include a public comment period. All such applications are listed on the DNR website. As of Thursday afternoon, DNR had not posted a permit application from Scale Microgrids. After reviewing public comments, the DNR would make a determination on the applications. The EPA regulates water issues nationally. If the data center were to draw water out of the 102, which was listed as one of the options in the Rural Water District handout at the public forum at Mozingo, it would have to get a permit from the Army Corp of Engineers.

Discussion turned to the nearby Evergy power plant that is being built, leading Ms. Strauch to ask where they would get their water. Evergy gets their water from the Kansas and Missouri rivers as well as from reservoirs such as the ones at Coffey City and Montrose Lake. 

South Nodaway Superintendent Dustin Skoglund came to talk with the commission about the project. Like the commissioners, Mr. Skoglund said he was neutral and is still gathering information on the proposed project. As of Thursday, the county has not been approached regarding tax abatements regarding the proposed data center, but that if it were, Scott Walk pledged to include the school in any conversation regarding taxes. 

As the process continued, commissioners said that they had their own questions about the potential revenue figures provided by Strategic Economic Research back in March. Commissioner Burns asked why there was such a sharp dropoff in projected revenues from the final construction year, estimated to be in 2029, and the first year it went live, estimated to be in 2030. The projected tax revenue in 2029 was projected at $109 million while the projected tax revenue for 2030, the first year the facility is supposed to go live, was $65 million. "It's like a car being driven off the lot," said Commissioner Walk. "It loses 25% of its value." The projected figures drop to $20,984,102 in 2039, jump to $37,430,031 in 2040, and then decline down to $17,416,177 by 2057. The project is estimated to have a 35-year lifespan.