Mitchell County board accepts quote to reserve data center ordinance work, keeps solar ordinance as priority

The Mitchell County Board of Supervisors voted to accept a quoted contract to reserve consulting work for a prospective data center ordinance, while supervisors stressed the county’s existing moratorium on new data-center applications and the priority of completing a solar ordinance.

Speaker 3, who presented the item, summarized prior discussion and research: “the only thing that I was seeing was that it was regarding water usage,” and noted that current county data centers use closed-loop systems and that “we have that moratorium in place until the end of the year,” meaning new applications cannot be accepted during the moratorium. The presenter said accepting the quote would put the county “on the list” to start work later and could lock current pricing.

Some supervisors opposed committing funds before the solar ordinance was completed, arguing the county should “own our own plan” and not base local policy entirely on uncertain state action. Others supported accepting the quote to protect the quoted price and secure scheduling. One supervisor voted no during the recorded tally; the motion to accept the quote passed by majority vote.

The action authorized acceptance of the quoted services to develop ordinance materials and a water/energy usage plan if pursued later; the board did not adopt an ordinance at the meeting and confirmed staff and legal review would continue. The presenter and county attorney reiterated that state legislation on data centers (focused on water and grid usage) had not progressed this session and might need reintroduction in a future year.

The board emphasized that final ordinance drafting, legal review and any future adoption decisions would follow additional staff work and the planning commission’s recommendations.