Council members heard more than an hour of public comment on Nov. 25 from residents concerned about Google’s proposed data center project in southeast Fort Wayne and draft air permits filed with the Indiana Department of Environmental Management (IDEM).

Council President Jeff Paddock said he had submitted a letter to IDEM asking the agency to meet with city officials, the mayor’s office and Google to seek alternatives to the diesel-generator configuration that residents have criticized. “I have submitted a letter … to the Indiana Department of Environmental Management,” Paddock said, and he and Mayor Sharon Tucker are coordinating a public forum in December.

Speakers at the public comment period said the community was not given adequate notice or information about the project’s scale and environmental impacts and urged the council to press IDEM to deny draft permits. Becky Gonzales, a small-business owner, said she is frustrated by what she called generous incentives for a large corporation and a lack of time to understand the proposals. “I just call BS to that,” Gonzales said of the notion that nothing could be changed.

Other residents focused on health and environmental risks. Eric Koppas, who asked council to press IDEM and Google, called attention to the “nearly quintuple” increase in requested backup generators and said that large-scale, on-site generation raises concerns about frequent use, noise and odor as well as air emissions. Leah Rose Regan, who identified herself as a minor and a person with asthma, said she feared long-term impacts on children’s ability to play outside: “I am the one with asthma… I demand that this be denied.”

Multiple commenters asked for a moratorium on permitting, a community-benefit agreement with Google, independent health and environmental impact assessments, and baseline and ongoing air-quality monitoring funded by the company.

Councilwoman Michelle Chambers, who voted in 2023 to approve a prior land sale for development at the site, told residents she has pressed the city’s community development department for answers and had requested that Google present to the full council. “We will have a town hall meeting,” Chambers said, and she urged Google to come answer questions directly.

Several council members expressed alignment with residents’ concerns and pledged to work with Paddock and the mayor’s office to seek greater transparency and regulatory scrutiny. Councilman Tom Freistroffer said he would work with other members to “get to the bottom of this” and recommended contacting IDEM. Council President Paddock said the city would follow up with the state regulator and report back to the public.

The record at the Nov. 25 meeting shows no formal council action to change past land approvals; council members described ongoing efforts to seek more information from Google and regulators. A public hearing on related budget items appears separately on the December calendar. The mayor’s office and IDEM were mentioned as the principal agencies with authority over air permits; Google representatives were invited to discuss the proposal with city officials and the public.

Next steps: Paddock and the mayor’s office plan a public forum in December and the council said it will request additional briefings from Google and relevant city departments. IDEM remains the permitting authority for the draft air permits referenced by multiple speakers.