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Council defers to referendum process after public comments urging a citizen vote on data center
Summary
After public comment urging a citizen vote, the council discussed placing a data-center land-sale question on a future agenda and agreed to let an active referendum process run its legal course.
Page — Public commenter Sharon Woodard Paige urged the council Nov. 12 to allow a citizen vote on a proposed 500-acre land sale for a data center, saying residents were concerned about secrecy, NDAs and potential air and water impacts. The council later took up the topic under future agenda items and discussed whether to proactively place a citizen vote on a meeting agenda.
City staff and the city attorney noted that a referendum process is already underway; council members said that if the petition meets legal requirements the referendum would be scheduled and would be a legally binding vote. Councilors debated timing and who would bear election costs, but the majority concluded it was appropriate to let the referendum process run its course rather than pre-empt that legal mechanism.
Council asked staff to monitor the referendum petition process and to bring procedural questions back to a future meeting if needed; no new ordinance or council-initiated ballot placement was approved at this meeting.
