Scott Wilson asked the Nodaway County Commissioners at their regular meeting Tuesday about flow capacity for the Evergy generation facility. At the Rural Water District meeting last month, Evergy had requested a flow rate of 150 gallons per minute, which equates to 216,000 gallons per day. “This is a question for the developers,” said Mr. Wilson. “Will this flow rate support the White Cloud Generation LLC? If not, what is needed, and what is the reasoning for the difference in flow rate required?” The White Cloud Generation permit application is calling for 600 megawatts of generation, while the Evergy substation is planned for 880 megawatts. This means that the White Cloud Generation turbines would generate around 68.18% of the generation that Evergy would have. Mr. Wilson said that at 70% water usage, that would equate to 151,200 gallons of water per day, or 105 gallons per minute. “I’m calling on you to ask the developer one simple question. I want an answer by next week, or if they’re unable to answer, then why not?”
Susie Strauch reported that GRM had marked its lines in the area, suggesting that more work is being planned for the area.
Commissioner Chris Burns said that the county had not yet retained a consultant, and that they were planning to talk to one. The commission went into closed session Tuesday to talk to the lawyer. Commissioner Bill Walker promised to have more answers by Thursday.
Ms. Strauch once again brought up the J-turn at 71 and the Arkoe road. “It’s ridiculous how many near-misses there are there,” she said. “It’s way out of our hands,” said Commissioner Walker. Commissioner Burns agreed to call the area engineer. “It’s amazing nobody’s gotten killed yet,” said Ms. Strauch. “When those grain trucks start running shortly, they can’t just stop.”
Regarding zoning, Commissioner Scott Walk said that the next step was to meet with their lawyer. Commissioner Burns said he would get information from similar-sized counties in the state that have zoning. He said that they had gotten a 144-page zoning draft from the attorney.
Assessor Rex Wallace talked about the risks of zoning. “The first time someone builds something without a permit, it’s a lawsuit waiting to happen,” said Mr. Wallace. “To know what people are building is great for my office, but it could come back to bite.” Another question was on enforcement. He noted that when Polk Township had zoning, the Prosecutor’s Office did not want to get involved and that the zoning enforcer eventually quit, since it was an unpaid position. Polk Township’s regulations had been extensive and had covered things like dog houses and chicken houses.
Mr. Wallace said that if they were going to use county resources, data centers needed to pay their full share of taxes like everyone else. “And why don’t they put it on unproductive land,” asked Ms. Strauch.
Asked about any land transfers, Mr. Wallace said he had seen a lot of leases recently, but not any land transfers that raised flags.
Mr. Wallace noted that most of Nodaway County is under an Enhanced Enterprise Zone, which gives tax breaks to businesses that locate there. It covers all the county except for the West Nodaway School District. He said that a board could add data centers to restricted categories, which would require them to pay their full share of taxes. The proposed data center in question is located in the South Nodaway School District. Worth County also has an Enhanced Enterprise Zone covering most of the county, but the board overseeing it has been dormant for 15 years.
Amy Ziegler of United Electric, asked about electric rates going up, said that it has nothing to do with data centers. “We raise our rates when our provider raises theirs,” she said. Maryville has been raising its water rates due to building a massive treatment facility to address taste and odor issues in the water system and to replace an outdated system.
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