Data center pause could get action Tuesday

LEE COUNTY – Discussion on a pause of data center construction in the county has culminated in a resolution that will be in front of supervisors on Tuesday morning.
Supervisors held a workshop on the issue following a lengthy meeting last week.
Tuesday’s agenda has a resolution that would follow in place of many other cities in the state and around the country, including Des Moines County, while the impacts of the facilities on resources including utilities, water, and personnel are evaluated.
Lee County Supervisor Denise Fraise suggested the moratorium two weeks ago during a meeting, and the workshop last week led to the resolution coming to the table this week.
The resolution indicates that such facilities are characterized by substantial long-term demands on public infrastructure including electrical power, water supply, transportation systems, and emergency services, as well as potential impacts on surrounding land uses and environmental resources.
The resolution as written allows supervisors to ensure the centers are evaluated, located, and developed in a manner that infrastructure and operational impacts are appropriately reviewed and mitigated, and that the County can fulfill its long-term fiscal, infrastructure, and community responsibilities associated with hosting generational facilities.
The moratorium would include all data centers both large and small and, if passed by the board, would be in place for up to one year.

The speculation around the data centers coming to Lee County was based on several inquiries including one from GoSolar CEO Gordon Baier who had a data center in a larger scale development near Koch Fertilizer in the Green Bay bottoms.
Property on Fort Madison’s east side that isn’t in city limits is also rumored to have data center plans including bitcoin mining, which was mentioned during Tuesday’s meeting. That property owned by Dustin Wolgemuth’s Octopus Investments LLC., has been under heavy earth moving for the past four weeks.
Supervisor Garry Seyb said he has a few concerns with the resolution specifically around definitions and the time span.
“'Large and small', what does that mean,” he said. “I’m not sure this would stand up if a Google or somebody like that who wanted to build here had attorneys get after it.”
Seyb said he doesn’t have a problem looking into the impacts, but new technology may allow developers to use power “behind the meter” meaning they would generate their own power, and other cooling techniques may prevent environmental impacts.
“If they can create some kind of closed-loop development on their own property, I’m not sure we should be saying, ‘No’. But we do have to have a framework that deals with those things and impacts on non-participating neighbors.”
This week’s agenda also includes action on a one-year extension of a contract with Southeast Iowa Regional Planning Commission for administration of the county’s wind, solar and battery storage ordinance in Lee County, and the reappointment of Tom Pollpeter as the county’s representative on the Library Board.