Jackson County commissioners table decision on proposed Spragueville modular data center after hours of public comment

Jackson County zoning officials on Jan. 20 postponed a decision on a conditional-use request to place a modular, air-cooled data center on a two-acre parcel near a Spragueville substation, saying they needed more time to review technical and community concerns raised during a two-hour public hearing.

The proposal, made by AUR Spragueville LLC and represented by John Paul Barrick, would place four modular buildings, two storage containers and ancillary site work on land described in county materials as being north of Preston and adjacent to an electric substation. Laurie, a county staff member, summarized the application at the start of the public hearing and described the site plan and the applicant’s stated intent that the facility would operate as a demand-response load resource to help smooth local power demand.

The zoning commission’s decision was delayed after residents and county commissioners pressed the applicant on noise, drainage and emergency response. The applicants and a land agent for Warren Capital Ventures, identified in the hearing as Charlie, told the commission the facility would be air-cooled, oriented so fans exhaust away from the nearest houses and would use the local cooperative’s existing substation capacity.

Barrick, identified at the hearing as an applicant and representative, said the proposed site would be “about half” the size of the company’s smallest…