Lebanon City Council on Nov. 10 approved a water and wastewater allocation agreement with Orla LLC (Project Domino), the entity associated with Meta’s data-center project west of town, and cleared several non‑LEAP pre‑allocation agreements for residential and commercial developers.

City legal counsel Jeff Jacob told the council the agreement replaces a prior pre‑allocation and sets phased consumption levels: “Meta or Orla LLC is requesting a half million gallons per day in January ’27, 4,000,000 in January ’28, and 8,000,000 by January ’31,” he said. The agreement includes a refundable 10% availability deposit to reserve capacity; if the customer does not pay when the city turns on supply, the allocation reverts to the system.

Jacob and staff said the city’s water system currently produces about 4.6 million gallons per day and that a wholesale supply agreement with Citizens Energy Group will add up to 25 million gallons per day between 2027 and 2031 to meet expected demand. City staff said they will provide council members with an allocation spreadsheet showing current commitments and remaining capacity.

Council CFO Sandra Morgan summarized how the financing works: availability fees and a portion of monthly bills are held as capital charges to repay Indiana Finance Authority (IFA) bonds backed by LEAP‑district rates. “It’s called the capital charges,” she said, and those funds go toward IFA bond payments; the LEAP cash is kept separate from the civil district funds.

Several residents used public comment to challenge the project and the use of public resources. Marshall Whitlock read a lengthy notice invoking constitutional language and warned against using public money for private economic development, saying, “The people’s natural resources are held in trust by the state for the benefit of the people.” City staff and counsel replied that well oversight is handled by state regulators and that the agreement requires Orla to stop using construction wells once city water is available.

Jacob told the council the agreement spells out well decommissioning steps: “When city water becomes available, you must discontinue the use of the well,” and the company must pull pumps and proceed with decommissioning per health‑department requirements.

Council members and staff said the agreement was the product of months of negotiation and that the utility board recommended approval. The motion to approve passed by voice vote; the resolution and deposit framework will govern how and when Orla and other pre‑allocation customers convert their deposits into full capacity and metered service.

Next steps: staff will continue to monitor system capacity, provide the requested allocation spreadsheet to council, and implement the deposit/availability process for users when wholesale supply arrives starting in 2027.