(Editor's Note: The article below originally was posted on our website and in Friday's e-edition incorrectly identifying Octopus LLC out of Cedar Falls as a potential owner of property along Business 61 in Fort Madison on Burlington Hill. After further investigation the property is owned by Octopus Investments, LLC out of Kathleen, Florida.
That company is registered to Dustin J. Wolgemuth and was incorporated in Florida in Nov. of 2023.
Pen City Current regrets the error and apologizes Mr. Diebler and Ms Schilf the owners of Octopus LLC of Cedar Falls. )
LEE COUNTY – The Lee County Board of Supervisors is hinting at passing a moratorium on any data centers in the county.
Rumors have been circulating widely that a company called Octopus Investments L.L.C. had purchased the property on Burlington Hill that used to be owned by Jon Heyland where a go-cart track use to exist.
Construction work is underway on the property with mostly earth moving taking place. However, no county or city permits are required for the work. The property is outside city limits, but within the city’s two-mile extraterritorial jurisdiction. And the county has no zoning or permit requirements for the construction of a data center currently, if in fact, that is the owners' intent.
According to the Florida's Division of Corporations, the property is owned by Dustin J. Wolgemuth and is listed as at least six parcels including 2197 and 2201 Business 61. However, there are no public documents available around the work being conducted on the land.
The potential project on Burlington Hill isn't the only project that has the county's attention. There are other projects that could surface in Green Bay bottoms, but, again with no zoning and no permit requirements, public documents outlining the projects are unavailable at this time.
“I believe we need to look at putting a moratorium on data centers until we can get an ordinance in place,” said Supervisor Denise Fraise.
Board Chair Ginger Knisley said that was something the board “definitely should discuss”.
“It’s definitely time we proceed with caution,” she said.
County Engineer Ben Hull said he’s received copies of resolutions from Henry and Des Moines counties around moratoriums on permitting for data centers. However, Lee County doesn’t require permits for that work.
“There’s no permit required in Lee County to build a data center,” he said.
“One thing I know I spent some time looking for, and it’s not very clear, is what’s the definition of a data center."
Knisley said that’s where the county ran into issues with the solar and wind ordinance.
“Were we encompassing everything we were wanting to,” she said.
Hull said Iowa is trying to encourage data centers so the state has some definitions around tax status.
“But, generally, we’re looking at consumption of electricity and water, but I could be wrong.”
Board member Denise Fraise said she’s been seeing on social media about the noise coming from data centers.
Lee County IT Director Kevin Harter agreed that the definition would have be clear and there are concerns about noise and consumption.
“We call our servers data centers. And one of those data centers is one server.”
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A person
Must be a very slow news day to make up an article about nothing factual. I guess because your requests for information were not answered, you simply made up a story? You then took a private individuals name and blasted the wrong information. This individual has a right to their privacy, their project is none of your business or anyone else’s. Have you thought of the safety risks you have now inflicted on this individual, because of your stupid article? This isn’t journalism, it’s gossip and garbage.
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