Developer, city staff outline terms for proposed Cannon Falls data‑center campus; water, infrastructure payments key

Trak representatives told the City of Cannon Falls Joint City Council and Planning Commission on Oct. 9 that their proposed data‑center campus would be built in phases, require new public water and sewer mains and a water tower, and — under the developer’s projections — represent a multibillion‑dollar private investment with a multi‑million‑dollar contribution to city tax receipts over 20 years.

Kristen Dean Westrach, Trak’s lead representative, said the work session was intended to address questions from the planning commission and public and to drill into technical issues: "we're really focused tonight on addressing a lot of what we heard at the planning commission meeting," she said. She and other presenters described a negotiated development agreement that city staff and the developer are still finalizing.

Why it matters: city staff and outside consultants said they have reviewed water, wastewater and other technical studies and that the proposed allocation of water for the full build‑out — capped in the current draft at 43,000,000 gallons per year and phased over time — fits within existing DNR appropriations and the city’s system capacity as the consultants modeled it. That modeling and the development agreement’s infrastructure payments are central to whether the council proceeds with formal approvals.

What the development agreement would require

- Trak would design and pay to extend more than a mile of public water and sewer infrastructure from the existing city system to the project site; the developer would bid the work and place funds in escrow so the city would not front the cost. Jake Steen, attorney with Larkin Hoffman, said the agreement will require payment before issuance of the first building permit and that the agreement "will run with the land" as an enforceable contract.

- The draft agreement includes a $5,000,000 capital contribution toward a future water tower and a sewer…