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Lockport schedules special session on Star Innovation District; Arcadis to facilitate
Summary
Lockport commissioners set a special meeting to discuss the Star Innovation District, with Arcadis facilitating. Officials said multiple developers have proposed options — including data centers — and urged commissioners to adopt a policy before the April 1 election to lock in direction.
Unidentified Speaker 3 announced a special meeting for the City of Lockport to discuss the Star Innovation District and urged commissioners to review questions circulated by staff in advance. "We're gonna talk about the Star Innovation District, and what its future is," the speaker said, adding that Arcadis would facilitate the session.
The speaker framed the site as a major redevelopment opportunity, comparing it to the city's earlier Texaco property project and warning of the long-term implications of the council's decisions. "This is a significant development. It isn't just a Popeye's or something like that," the speaker said, and said staff aims to produce "an executive summary of the conversation and a general consensus on the direction forward so that staff can begin working on it."
During the discussion the speaker said multiple developers had reached out with proposals, "for data centers primarily," and pointed to utility advantages on the site: proximity to a substation at 135th Street and to what the transcript calls the "San Antonio Ship Canal," which the speaker said could provide cooling water for large-scale computing equipment. The speaker noted timing was important given an April 1 election that could change the board's composition and said the council would prefer an adopted policy before then so staff work would not be undone by a new majority.
Arcadis, identified by the speaker as the contracted facilitator, was described as a neutral third party that would lead the discussion and present findings back to the council. No formal action or vote on a policy took place during the commission meeting; the item was set for the special session the next evening.
The meeting summary said Commissioner Scott would not attend the special meeting but had provided input on the facilitator's questions in advance. The transcript does not specify any timetable for staff deliverables after the facilitated session or whether any formal zoning or development proposals were on that special-meeting agenda.
