Residents urge Lincoln County to pause data-center approvals over water, energy and accountability concerns

During the public‑comment period, three residents asked the Lincoln County Board of Commissioners to pause approvals for proposed data centers and to provide clearer information on enforcement and community impacts.

Beth Dere of the Hidden Lake Subdivision opened public comment asking the board to reconsider and pause data‑center activity in Lincoln County. "If you had petitions presented to you with a percentage of the Lincoln County voters, would that persuade you?" she asked, noting she attended a prior meeting and had concerns after hearing testimony.

Faith Colbert raised resource and privacy concerns, saying data centers "use a lot of water" and require substantial energy; she said she did not want to see discussion of a new power station in the county and expressed worry about data mining of residents' information.

Hope Hunt asked specifically about accountability and enforcement: "What are the consequences if they violate the ordinances and the regulations? Who then becomes responsible for implementing consequences?" The chair acknowledged the point and said the board would discuss accountability during the meeting.

The three speakers asked the board to pause further approvals and to provide clearer guidance to the public about what the county can and will do to enforce local rules.

Next steps: commissioners acknowledged the concerns and said the issues would be addressed later in the meeting and through county processes; no formal action to pause data‑center approvals was taken during this session.