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Resident demands transparency as city schedules developer open house for proposed data center
Summary
A resident criticized the city’s outreach on a proposed closed‑loop data center and asked for specific water‑use figures; council members announced an open house Monday (3:30–5:30 p.m., Midwest Genealogy Center) and a taped study session where the developer will present and a citizen engagement committee will be formed.
Mike Talcott, a longtime Independence resident, told the City Council on Jan. 5 that he and other residents have received inadequate responses about a proposed “closed‑loop” data center and the related plan to restart a gas‑fired power plant.
“I ask among other things for specifics on how much water usage the proposed data center would need and in the light of information from the article, how much water would the new power plant then need?” Talcott said, later adding, “Since you seem to be unable to answer basic questions like how many gallons of water would each facility use, we need to be able to have such a forum.”
The council responded by announcing in the meeting that the developer will hold an open house Monday from 3:30 to 5:30 p.m. at the Midwest Genealogy Center and that the developer will present again at a forthcoming council study session that will be taped. Council members said the open house will begin with a presentation and then move to an open‑house format where attendees can ask developers and staff questions directly.
Council member Fears told the meeting the open house will be an “open house‑type of event” and that residents will be able to ask questions of experts “upfront with microphones” at the study session. Assistant City Manager Charlie DeSalle said the city is meeting weekly with the developer on communications and that the developer plans to form a citizen engagement committee to include a range of local stakeholders.
At the hearing, Talcott also said an AI assistant described the proposed restart as a thermoelectric plant that uses natural gas, and he questioned whether the city and the developer had been clear about potential indirect water demands if cooling loads are shifted to a nearby power plant. Council members and staff did not provide specific gallons‑per‑day figures during the meeting; they said more technical details would be provided at the public engagement events and at the study session.
What’s next: the developer’s open house is scheduled for Monday, 3:30–5:30 p.m. at the Midwest Genealogy Center; the council said the developer will present at an upcoming study session that will be taped and that the city and developer will provide further opportunities for public input and a citizen engagement committee.
