The Vanderburgh County Data Center Research Committee met for the kickoff meeting Wednesday Sept. 2, to essentially figure out how they would proceed.
The committee includes 13 individuals from various sectors, established by a recent county ordinance, which also pauses any data center projects through 2026.
The committee’s job is to research, and then recommend a final ordinance to the County Commission to actually govern any potential projects.
It’s not a question though of "if" data centers will be allowed, it's "how," said Committee Member Tom Shetler Jr.
“We need to kind of put the welcome mat out, that we're open for business, but we're putting guidelines in here, rules clearly that everybody understands to protect the people from any kind of issues or problems, noise, overcrowding streets, whatever it might be, but that we put the rules in there very clearly.” — with the expectation that companies will follow those rules.
Member John Bates, who is a business manager for a trade union, suggested the committee choose a specific topic to study for the next meeting, to make sure members come prepared.
Lauren Lynch of the Evansville Climate Collaborative suggested the first topic be "case studies," of specific data centers and the ordinances used to govern them. Member Jason Naab, a famer, has already been researching the topic.
The next issue would be water usage by such facilities, and the affect they have on utility prices.
Newly appointed Committee Chair Lloyd Lamberton said fair utilities rates have to be ensured along with mitigating possible nuisance issues the facilities create.
Resident Cindy Kuester attended the meeting. She is on the fence about data centers, and questions the use of any tax abatements to draw them in.
“What does it really do for us in exchange,” she said. “I understand that it provides jobs for construction, but beyond that, I don't. And when we give it all away in tax, what do we get in return?”
Residents from Posey County attended including Brad McManomy, and his small group all wearing red anti-data center shirts.
“Whatever goes on here affects us too, because we're all CenterPoint Energy customers, and that's one of our big concerns. The other is water usage,” he said.
The 13 members of the committee include county council members, a city representative, experts in the construction trades, water infrastructure, traffic engineering and noise and acoustics.
Jon Robertson with the university of Evansville. He said he would like to travel to a data center to measure noise decibel levels.
“… a baseline of the acoustic ecology of maybe potential sites in this county. Most importantly, baseline measurements of noise in nearby data centers.”
There was also talk ensuring property values for residents within a radius of the facility, and the thorough decommissioning of facilities.
While the final meeting is scheduled for December 15th, Lamberton said they have the option to extend the moratorium and the study period before making a recommendation.
The next meeting is September 15 from 1 to 3 PM room 301 of the Civic Center.
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Research Committee members
Tom Shetler Jr.
Susan Hardwick
Scott A Ambrose
Richard D Reed
Lloyd Lamberton
Lauren J Lynch
Jon Robertson
John R Diekhoff
Chaitanya Mamidala
Jason P Naab
Blair Doneske