Residents press Sunbury council to halt data-center approvals; city schedules specialist review

At the May 6 Sunbury City Council meeting, a string of public commenters urged elected officials to pause approvals and demand more transparency before permitting large data centers near town.

"This moratorium feels more like a delay tactic than any protection for the people," said Joe Fuller, who told the council he worries that non‑disclosure agreements, shell companies and private land purchases are allowing large projects to move forward with insufficient public scrutiny. "The public deserves answers and not secrecy."

Other residents raised technical and quality‑of‑life concerns. Karina Sant told the council she fears long‑term health, water and air impacts, saying residents "trust you guys to look really in there, take it apart and see what does that mean." Nineteen‑year‑old Cadence Swain said a data center proposed less than five miles from her childhood home could push up housing and utilities costs and damage the town’s character. "Please do not pass data centers in Sunbury for the health of not only our residents, but our wildlife, our future residents," she said.

Several speakers pressed questions about water supply. Amber Swain, who reviewed the city’s hydrologic study, said the report’s modeling relies on average flows in Big Walnut Creek and asked how reservoir and creek levels would respond during prolonged drought or if multiple large users draw from the same system.

Long‑time resident and business owner Franchesca Parker directly questioned the role of the city manager, saying she had previously raised concerns about Daryl Hennessy’s involvement. "Why is Daryl Hennessy the one the data center moratorium puts in place to study the effects of data centers?" Parker asked, saying the manager previously brokered projects and signed NDAs and that his contract was due for renewal in two days.

City Manager Daryl Hennessy responded with procedural and documentary details. He said the city withheld about 11 documents under Ohio House Bill 184’s economic‑development exemption but has released more than a thousand pages of materials related to the AWS data‑center proposal, including the hydrologic study, the non‑disclosure agreement and the community reinvestment area (CRA) agreement and tax‑incentive paperwork. Hennessy announced the city plans a specialist‑led public meeting at Big Walnut High School on June 25, 2026, to address water quality, energy, noise, economic development and land‑use planning and said a second community meeting will follow to focus on health impacts.

Council members and city staff also told the public they are compiling specialists and will vet experts to avoid those with perceived conflicts. Council asked that the public submit recommended specialists for consideration.

What happens next: the city will hold the June 25 specialist meeting and follow up with a second community session in the fall. Residents at the meeting also asked the council to clarify the city manager’s contract renewal; that item was noted by speakers but was not on the May 6 agenda and no formal council action on the contract occurred during the meeting.